During its meeting Monday evening, the Kaskaskia College Board of Trustees voted to award bids on various phases of work pertaining to a new on-campus gymnasium that could be completed as soon as late 2025.
The board awarded a dozen bids, including concrete, roofing, plumbing, electrical, and other work on the facility. Altogether, the project includes anticipated construction costs of around $9.8 million and architectural, engineering, and other fees of just over $2.8 million.
KC President George Evans says college officials were happy to see costs come in under budget.
“The fact that this gym came in under budget — we set a hard stop at 13 and half million dollars. As you saw tonight, it came in substantially underneath that, which also includes the architectural and design fees. (We) couldn’t be more pleased.”
According to Evans, the current timeline calls for construction of the gymnasium to begin around October and to take approximately 12 to 14 months, depending on weather conditions. The facility will replace the school’s current gym, which was built in the early 1970s. Evans says the new gym will be an asset to KC’s athletic programs but to others in the community as well.
“It will obviously help our competition level from a recruitment standpoint, for athletics, but also I want to make sure the public understands just how important it is that this gymnasium is going to have more than just use for athletics. It’s going to be utilized for career fairs. It’s going to be utilized for public functions, as we pride ourselves as a community partner.”
The current KC gymnasium will be left in place and will be used for athletic tournaments and other functions.
