Before any decision is made regarding the future of the grandstand roof at Don Jirschele Stadium at W.A. Olen Park, the Clintonville Common Council wants information about all the options available, even if those options cost more than the city currently has budgeted for the project.

The council had originally approved having new I-beams installed to hold up the roof structure, but the contractor halted that project when the holes they were digging for the new I-beams filled up with water after they dug two feet into the ground.

At that point city administration began looking at removing the roof from the grandstand structure. The council had not officially approved that course of action, and it was found that the city would have to seek bids for the roof demolition if it wanted to remove the roof.

Finance meeting
Before the council intervened and requested more information, the matter was discussed at the Sept. 9 Finance and Personnel Committee meeting.

“Because of the scope of the project, it’s now turned into a demolition project,” City Administrator Caz Muske said. “Based on legal counsel from the League of Wisconsin Municipalities and our city attorney, we are going to have to rebid the project.”

She said the city believes the project needs to be rebid based on the dollar amount of the demolition project, and the scope of the project.

Committee Chairm Brandon Braden asked if the city hopes to have the project completed before winter.

Muske said the hope would be to complete the project during the winter months, hopefully with no snow on the ground, but frost would be welcome. If the ground is frozen during the project, that would help prevent damage to the asphalt around the grandstand.

Committee member Greg Rose said he spoke with a representative from the Clintonville Athletic Club (CAC). Although they agree with removing the roof from the grandstand, the CAS hopes the city will install something to block the sun from the ballfield.

“If we don’t have the roof, we’re going to need something else for the baseball team at some point,” Rose said.

Committee member Darrell Hansen said the city should research what it would take to move the ballfield to a different location.

“It’s (ballfield) going to be a money pit, guaranteed,” Hansen said.

Muske said the CAC “believes strongly” that the ballfield should stay in its current location.

Council discussion
Muske told the council that because the scope of the project changed from reinforcing the grandstand structure to a demolition project, the city must rebid the project. The opinion was based on legal advice from the Wisconsin League of Municipalities and Clintonville City Attorney Keith Steckbauer.

Steckbauer said in this case, demolition of the roof on the grandstand would be considered a construction project.

“My opinion is it’s safest to treat it as a separate project and bid it out,” Steckbauer said.

Public Works Director Justin Mc Auly told the council that he planned to prepare a request for proposal (RFP) by the end of the week, at which point it would be posted on the website of the Wisconsin League of Municipalities, the city’s website, and in local publications. He said he would also contact local contractors regarding the RFP.

He added that the company that was currently working on the reinforcement of the grandstand I-beams, is also willing to do the roof demolition.

“They’re interested, and more than likely will be putting in a bid as well,” Mc Auly said. “We’re just at the point right now where they pumped the brakes as soon as they went down about six inches and everything filled right in with water. They said they weren’t capable of boring into the water.”

Mc Auly acknowledged that he did talk to other contractors after the water problem was discovered, and they indicated the project could still be completed, but it would cost more than what the city approved for it.

“If we want to go that direction, it is another option, but it (cost) will be quite a bit more,” Mc Auly said.

Ald. Greg Rose asked Mc Auly if he asked the contractor if the supports could be embedded in a block of concrete above ground, instead of digging in the ground.

Mc Auly said engineers told him that the support beams need to be secured in the ground, per state code.

Ald. Brad Rokus asked how much more it would cost to complete the project in the way other contractors said it could be completed.

Mc Auly said the city could contact the engineers to find out what the cost would be, adding that the engineering of the project would also cost more.

Without that additional information, Rokus said the council would be making a decision without having all the information it needed.

Rose said he would like to be included in the correspondences between Mc Auly, Muske and the engineers currently working on the project.

“I’m not ready to take action on taking down our grandstand that’s been there for decades upon decades without seeing a single shred of information, other than words, that have been spoken here,” Rose said.

Rokus questioned why the scope of the project was changed from reenforcing the I-beams of the grandstand roof to demolishing the roof of the grandstand without the approval of the council.

“We don’t need to be involved in every last decision in the workings of the city, but I think this is a fairly major one, that I don’t know if I’m comfortable with just letting that decision to be made, that we’re changing that scope, without fully exploring what our options are.”

Muske said the city has not been making decisions alone, as it has been consulting with the engineering firm and contractor currently working on the project. She added that they are not comfortable moving forward with the project under the original scope of the project.

Rokus said he understands that, but also said that doesn’t mean it would be impossible to complete the project in a different way.

“It will be more expensive, but without knowing the magnitude, I think it would be foolish for us to scrap the whole project and tear it all down and have nothing,” Rokus said.