PBC Board of Commissioners Approve Contracts for Construction of New 31st Street Harbor

The Public Building Commission of Chicago, with a vote of its Board of Commissioners, took new steps today toward reshaping the City of Chicago’s lakefront by approving two contracts for the development of the new 31st Street Harbor.

The 31st Street Harbor project, divided into landside and coastal projects, will not only deliver hundreds of new boat slips to the lakefront, but also will bring new amenities and facilities expected to draw non-boaters to the lakefront as well.

The 31st Street Harbor project will bring to the lakefront more than 1,000 new boat slips, as well as a base to serve youth fishing and sailing programs. On shore will be a community building offering exceptional views of the lake and the skyline, a canoe/kayak storage area and launch locations, a parking facility that will double as winter boat storage and two additional acres of park land.

The coastal project contract was awarded to the Paschen Gillen Skipper Marine joint venture, which was the lowest of three responsive bidders with a bid of $30,316,650. The landside project contract was awarded to James McHugh Construction Company, which was the lowest of three responsive bidders with a bid of $53,699,964.

Work on both portions of the 31st Street Harbor project is expected to begin later this spring.

The PBC’s Board of Commissioners also approved contracts for the construction of two new playgrounds: the new Marquette Park Playground at 6743 S. Kedzie in the Chicago Lawn community and the Piotrowski Park Playground at 4247 W. 31st Street in the South Lawndale community. Both projects will install new rubberized surfaces and upgraded play equipment for children ages 2 to 5 and 5 to 12.

The Marquette Park Playground project contract was awarded to F.H. Paschen, S.N. Nielsen LLC, which was the lowest of eight responsive bidders with a bid of $306,000. The bid included an MBE commitment of 24 percent and a WBE commitment of 4 percent.

The Piotrowski Park Playground project contract was awarded Pan-Oceanic Engineering Co., which was the lowest of eight responsive bidders with a bid of $335,172. The bid included an MBE commitment of 25 percent and a WBE commitment of 5 percent.

During the meeting Commissioners also heard a report on the pre-qualification of general contractors for the 12th District Police Station, the Southwest Area High School and Back of the Yard High School projects, the Haas Park Fieldhouse projects and elementary school additions and renovations.  Forty-eight submittals were received from general contractors who delivered statements of qualification and financial conditions for pre-qualification to bid on the projects, and 39 were found to be eligible to be pre-qualified for one or more upcoming PBC projects.

In other business, the PBC’s Board of Commissioners, approved the appointment of Perkins + Will Inc. as Architect of Record for the William Jones High School to be constructed at 606 S. State St. and approved a request from the City of Chicago’s Office of Emergency Management and Communications to engage the PBC to provide formulation services for the OEMC’s Camera Infrastructure Program.

The PBC manages construction and renovation projects for the City of Chicago and its sister agencies. Mayor Richard M. Daley serves as the PBC’s chairman. Additional information about the PBC and its projects is available at the agency’s Web site: www.pbcchicago.com.