Burr Ridge scales back remodeling plans

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Updated: March 11, 2012 8:12AM

The Burr Ridge Space Needs Committee voted Monday to scale back its plans for sprucing up the village’s board room after bids for the project came in higher than expected.

“All the little bits and pieces added up,” said designer and consultant Josephine Goetz.

The low bid for the project came in at more than $330,000 —about $20,000 more than the estimate, Village Administrator Steve Stricker said.

“The consultant’s estimate was $312,000,” Stricker said.

Much of the cost, Goetz said, was in accessibility requirements. By scaling back the project, those changes no longer will be required.

The committee, made up of trustees Al Paveza and Robert Grela, Mayor Gary Grasso and Plan Commission Chairman Greg Trzupek, agreed to reject all of the bids and to start the process over again with a smaller project.

While the original plan called for a reconfiguration of the board room so that the board dais faced north rather than west, the new plan will replace the dais but leave it where it is.

New carpeting, lighting, wall coverings, window treatments and updated audio/visual equipment likely will be part of the new plan, which will go before the Village Board on Feb. 13.

The board at that time also will be asked to approve additional consultant fees to pay for the new plan.

The village has about $500,000 on hand to pay for a remodeling of the 25-year-old Village Hall at 7660 County Line Road, but the committee is not prepared to spend the vast majority of that money on a single part of the building.

“With these kinds of numbers, I don’t think it’s something we can do,” Grasso said.

Grasso said new audio visual equipment is a must. The current cameras are 15 years old.

“They’re archaic,” Stricker agreed.