By Maya Betti
Northfield school officials say the major renovation and expansion of Northfield High School will proceed on its original timeline, despite construction bids coming in roughly $19 million over budget.
The next step, scheduled for mid-June, is to return to contractors to rebid three major portions of the project — the masonry, precast concrete and structural steel — which initially drew only one bid each.
“We didn’t have a competitive bid day for all of the aspects of the project,” Superintendent Matt Hillmann said.
The project architect, Wold Architects and Engineers, and construction management firm, Knutson Construction, both previously worked on Northfield’s 2018 bond referendum projects.
According to Wold Education Practice Leader Sal Bagley, the team conducted multiple independent cost estimates throughout the design process leading up to bid day, none of which anticipated the shortfalls that ultimately emerged.
“We were keeping an eye on the budget and the market,” Bagley said. “But obviously, you know, bid day is all about who shows up that day and who else is out to bid.”
Bid day serves as a deadline for construction companies to submit bids for portions of a project. On that day, all proposals are reviewed at the same time, allowing the district and its construction partners to compare pricing across different packages, such as steel or concrete. The process depends heavily on contractor participation; when fewer firms bid, prices can rise.
And, when the district opened bids on March 26, there were fewer bids than expected. Officials received 77 total bids across 23 trade packages, compared to the roughly 100 they had anticipated. They said the gap reflects broader market changes, including conflicts in the Middle East affecting petroleum products, ongoing tariff concerns and the rapid growth of data centers, which has placed additional strain on the precast concrete and steel industries.
“We were discouraged, of course, but we can’t live there, right?” HIllmann said. “The voters approve these projects, and we are going to deliver the projects within the budget that we have.”
Bagley and Knutson Director of Operations Josh Cooper reached out to both bidders and contractors who chose not to bid in order to better understand why they opted out.
“Sometimes, companies get full and they need to make a decision whether to submit a bid or not,” Cooper said, noting one key contractor missed bid day due to timing issues with estimators but plans to bid next round.
District staff and project partners have spent the past month reviewing potential adjustments to the project through what they describe as “value engineering,” working through more than 150 line items and asking questions about tradeoffs.
This includes exploring product substitutions to reduce costs, such as replacing some planned brick exterior with metal paneling, as well as reducing finishes like tile where they are primarily aesthetic rather than functional.
Of the original 23 trade packages, 15 are expected to be rebid, while eight have already been awarded. According to Bagley, even within the awarded contracts, there may still be opportunities to find additional savings.
Hillmann also said the district is drawing on multiple funding sources to help close the gap, including about $4 million in bond interest earnings and long-term facilities maintenance revenue, which can be used for renovation work. He estimated roughly 50% of the project may qualify for that funding source.
The next round of rebidding is expected in mid-June, after which the proposal will return to the school board for consideration.
Maya Betti is a News Intern with KYMN Radio and an Executive Editor with the St. Olaf Messenger. Contact her at news@kymnradio.net.
