$1.7 million contract awarded for UMPI project

    PRESQUE ISLE – University of Maine at Presque Isle officials are keeping a promise to move quickly on a major building improvement plan after they awarded a bid for the Folsom Hall Renovation Project last week. The winning bid, from A&L Construction of Presque Isle, was for $1.7 million.     The project includes installing energy-efficient windows, improving ADA accessibility, updating the aging heating and ventilation system and adding temperature control in the University’s major classroom building.
    “We are delighted to say that the winning bid came in under the $2 million we were approved to spend on the project,” UMPI President Don Zillman said. “We said we would spend this money wisely, in a timely manner and bring local jobs to the area. We’ve done that and we couldn’t be more pleased that we’ve done so under budget.”
    The bid went out in early February. Officials had hoped to award the construction contract by March 1, but even that task was completed a day early. The project is moving at such a rapid pace because of a promise UMPI officials made to voters last fall when Bond Question 3 was under consideration. That question asked whether voters would spend $43.5 million for brick and mortar improvements at universities and colleges across the state. The University stood to receive $1.4 million, along with an additional $600,000 from the University of Maine System. On Nov. 6, the question passed with 51 percent support statewide; in Aroostook County, support was significantly higher for the initiative, at 55.6 percent.
    “We made a promise that if residents approved Question 3, we would begin renovation work at Folsom Hall as soon as physically possible, bring construction jobs to the County and provide an improved learning environment for students, faculty and staff,” Zillman said. “Four months later, a building contract is in place and our major classroom building, which hasn’t received any significant improvements since it was built in 1966, is getting some major infrastructure updates.”
    Work to be done includes replacing all windows and entrance doors; upgrading public bathrooms on all three floors; and updating the building’s facade to give it a more modern look. The project also will include the installation of energy-saving lights with motion-sensor technology; a new heat pump system that will save an estimated $156,000 in fuel oil; and a new boiler to replace the original one, which is more than 40 years old.
    Crews will begin work in March.
    Major construction work will begin on May 5, after classes are done for the semester.