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Stadium: Bid Accepted
Continued From Page A1
costs are contingency and architect
fees, landscaping and fencing.
Peters reported his committee,
through a fund drive which included
major donations and a seat-option
plan plus the proceeds from the sale
of Ratcliffe Stadium to the State
Center Community College District,
has accumulated $7,030,000 toward
the project.
"We're very, very close to the low
bid we received," he said. "So close
that the committee met this afternoon and elected to award the contract with the confidence that the
small amount still needed will be
raised by June 1."
Peters, who served as committee
chairman along with Lewis Eaton
and Russell Giffen, praised the efforts of those who spearheaded the
fund-raising drive and had a special
accolade for Stevens.
"I want to commend Bob Stevens," said Peters. "The (stadium)
quality was not reduced; in many
ways, it was enhanced. The bids
came in several hundred thousand
dollars below the architect's estimate
($7.5 million). We are delighted that
a local firm became the the successful bidder for the project. This is a
day we shall never forget."
Stevens said the stadium "funda-
mendally has all the facilities" that
it had when originally bid.
"We discovered some errors made
by our consultants which were corrected," he said. "The estimate this
time was based on fact, not guess."
Dr. Marvin Wampler, executive
dean in charge of FSU campus building, said the playing surface was
lowered an additional seven feet, to
37 feet below grade, eliminating the
need to bring in dirt for the earth
berm portions of the stadium. That
cost had been estimated at $1 million
in the original plans.
"We also eliminated two light
towers and adjusted the locations of
the others, which also saved a lot of
money," he noted. "The lights will be
slightly better than those at Ratcliffe.
We also changed the sound system
and reduced the number of restrooms
and concession stands. But it will
still be a quality stadium, with 30,000
seats. That's the important thing."
Baxter said the locker room "is an
additional project we!ll have to look
at at another time." Estimated cost
of a complete fieldhouse, including
locker facilities, staff offices, weight
and training room, is $1.1 million.
Bud Richter, chairman of the seat-
option committee, said his group will
continue efforts to sell the remaining
chair-style seats.
"We have 250 pair of seats still
available," he said. "All of the $1,250
seats are gone but we still have 50
pair in the $750 category and 200 pair
in the $500 sections." Sale of those Q
seats would bring an additional $250,- %
000 to the fund drive.
The seat-option sections on th£,
stadium's west side, in a prime loq
tion between the 18-yard lines,
See Stadium, Page /
