As previewed here last week, the re-bidding process for Delridge Skatepark is officially open today – the city is advertising for bidders starting today, and will open the bids on February 2nd. Skatepark construction is estimated to cost about half a million dollars. The Delridge project – planned for the greenspace north of Delridge Community Center, at the northwest corner of Delridge and Genesee (photo above, with tags blurred) – was the first topic for the citywide Skatepark Advisory Committee last night. After noting that the project was about to go out for re-bidding, committee members discussed their frustration with the way the first bidding process ended – the low bidder didn’t meet the qualifications that were developed with SPAC input, but instead of then automatically giving the contract to the 2nd-lowest bidder, which was associated with the local company, Grindline, that designed the park, Parks management decided to rewrite the qualifications. One big frustration for committee members, particularly chair Ryan Barth and West Seattle’s Matthew Lee Johnston (who elaborates on the frustrations in this new post at SeattleSkateparks.org), was the fact that the city could not legally send the project out for a design/build bid; Parks staffer Susan Golub explained state law prevents that. Barth and Johnston wondered how to push for a change in that law – while noting that could take years, and more skateparks will be built in the meantime. (Delridge is one of five citywide slated for construction this year – “The Year of the Skatepark,” Barth dubbed it before adjourning the meeting.)
West Seattle, Washington
18 Friday
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