Work on the new grandstand project for Rickeman Field is currently in process.  The concrete slab under the grandstand was poured the week of October 12th, and assembly of the grandstand structure has begun and should be completed before November.  However, the press box piece of the grandstand will not be in Dell Rapids for another couple of weeks according to City Administrator Justin Weiland.  The electrical portion of the project will happen when the press box is installed.

The Dell Rapids City Council budgeted $70,000 for the project for 2015 and then approved a proposed project estimated at $72,000 on Monday, August 3rd.  The finished project included the new grandstand with mounted press box at the top, electrical work, and the new concrete pad under the grandstand.

Dell Rapids Rickeman Field will now be getting a new grandstand. The Dell Rapids City Council approved moving forward with the project during their regular meeting on Monday, August 3^rd.

The project was tabled during the council’s last meeting on Monday, July 20^th, to gather more information on the cost of concrete as well as to gather more information on a different plan idea.

City Administrator Justin Weiland said, “We have firmed up those numbers (the concrete). I estimated at around $9,000, and narrowed that down to $5,000 at $5.00 a square which is still estimating a little high.”

With the new estimated costs of concrete, the project went from $76,000 to $72,000. That is still $2,000 over the estimated budget of $70,000 for the project.

Weiland presented the council with three options. One option was to go forward with the project of the new grandstand with press box installed, electrical work, and concrete work for the $72,000. The second option was to replace the grandstand with just bleaches and put a freestanding press box behind with the option of putting a comfort station underneath at a later time. The third option was to build a freestanding press box where the current grandstand is located with the option of putting a comfort station underneath and using the St Mary bleachers for seating.

“Personally what I think is option A, just going ahead and doing it. We’ve got it to $72,000. We’re within $2,000 of budget. That’s the closet project that we’ve had budgeted this year, “ said Councilman Mark Crisp. Crisp then made the motion to approve option one, which was seconded by Councilman David Sommerfeld.

The motion passed unanimously to move forward with the project to replace the grandstand with a new grandstand that has a press box mounted at the top, electrical work, and new concrete pad under the grandstand.

The Rickeman Field grandstand replacement project continues to be in a holding pattern.  The Dell Rapids City Council decided to table the decision on awarding the bidding of the project during their regular meeting on Monday, July 20th.

The council took no action on the putting the project out for bid during their meeting on June 1st.  Several members of the Dell Rapids Baseball Association asked the council to reconsider and spoke on the need to replace the grandstand during the council’s next meeting on June 15th. During that meeting, the city council voted to put the project out for bid.

The project only received one bid offer.  That bid was from Seating and Athletic Enterprises, LLC of Ellendale, MN for $58,112.  That bid was under the initial estimate of $64,000 for the grandstand with pressbox portion of the project.

The electrical portion of the project, which is separate, carried three options ranging in price from $4,700 to $8,400.  The options were to leave the electrical box where it is and remounting it to the new grandstand or move it to a new location while replacing the grandstand.

The cheaper electrical option is more of a temporary fix according to Dell Rapids Public Works Director Larry Schildhauer.  “I would say the cheaper bid is more of a temporary fix.  We’re going to have to re-do it.  And that would involve tearing out some of the materials that we put in for the temporary.  So we’ll eventually be spending more money than if we did it the right way.”

The concrete slab that would need to be set underneath the grandstand, which is estimated to be a size of 34 foot by 28 foot, was estimated to be around $9,000.  Councilman Mark Crisp said, “That’s kind of spendy…..it’s definitely something we need to take a look at.  How much concrete do we need?  How thick does it need to be? We should really have some quotes on that before approving.”  He also said, “This may bring it into budget if you get the appropriate numbers on your concrete.”

The total cost of the project with new grandstand and pressbox, electrical work, and concrete work came to a total of around $76,000, which is about $6,000 over the $70,000 budget amount.

A motion by Councilman Gary Haak to table the decision on awarding the bid project was made and the second was made by Councilman Lee Burggraff.  Prior to the vote of the motion, Councilman Mike Geraets presented another idea to the council about the project.

“I was approached by St Mary School that they would be willing to let us use their bleachers they purchased.  They have no use for them other than football season, and baseball season and football season don’t overlap….It’s just a matter of moving them from the field,” said Gearets.  He also mentioned an idea of putting a comfort station where the current grandstand sits and then put a pressbox on top of the comfort station while using the bleachers owned by St Mary school.

The vote passed unanimously to table the decision on the project to get more information on the cost of concrete and also to gather more information about the new idea presented by Geraets.