Fort Hamer Park expansion project attracts only one bidder

MANATEE -- Gator Grading and Paving of Palmetto submitted the only bid Wednesday for the expansion of Fort Hamer Park.

Gator bid $1.05 million to expand and pave the boat trailer-parking area east of Fort Hamer Road. Bid specifications call for adding vehicle and handicapped-accessible parking, lighting, irrigation, landscaping, and retention areas.

County staff members were at a loss to explain why Gator was the only bidder.

Three firms attended a pre-bid conference. County staff will be polling the other companies to find out why they did not submit a bid, said Deborah Carey-Reed, a contracts negotiator for Manatee County government.

Gator submitted the same bid amount for completion of the project in either 150 days or 180 days.

Because the bid came in over $1 million, it must go to the county commission for approval after being evaluated by county staff.

Gator's bid also came in higher than county officials had expected. Charlie Hunsicker, county director of Parks and Natural Resources, said in February he thought the project would cost about $900,000.

If Gator is selected as the winning bidder, the county would opt for the shorter construction period, said project manager Al Marinek.

Although project award is still potentially at least two months away, the Fort Hamer Park area is already busy with the start of construction on the Fort Hamer Bridge just to the east.

Fort Hamer Park has itself been transformed since 2011, when an 8,000-square-foot boathouse was added to store racing sculls. The park now figures prominently in the winter training plans of several top-flight college rowing programs from around the United States.

Not included in the current expansion plans, but envisioned for the future, is increasing the width of the Fort Hamer Park boat ramp.

"We have seen a significant increase in public enjoyment of the grounds, public boat ramp and the rowing center, commensurate with the growing interest in recreational and competitive rowing and population growth in the Parrish communities," Hunsicker told the Herald in February.

"The only problem we foresee in the near future is accommodating increased popularity as growth continues and the new bridge across the Manatee River is completed while working to maintain the true 'Old Florida' feel of Fort Hamer Park."

James A. Jones Jr., East Manatee reporter, can be contacted at 941-745-7053 or on Twitter @jajones1.

This story was originally published April 30, 2015 at 12:00 AM with the headline "Fort Hamer Park expansion project attracts only one bidder."