PBC Awards Millennium Park Landscape Contract

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

November 14, 2000
Contact: Terry Levin
(312) 744-9277

A $17.8 million contract for basic landscaping and finishes work on an 11-acre portion of the lakefront’s new Millennium Park was awarded to the lowest bidder Tuesday by the Public Building Commission of Chicago.

The contract went to the joint venture of Walsh/II in One, which already is working on other portions of the project under earlier contracts.

The landscaping and park finishes contract includes sod, trees, shrubs and flowers, concrete stairs and walkways, railings, sprinkling and drainage systems and similar basic park infrastructure, according to PBC executive director Eileen Carey.

It also includes construction of a peristyle, a neoclassical semi-circular colonnade which represents the first private-donor funded enhancement of the park at a cost of approximately $3.5 million.

Otherwise, the contract does not include the many other amenities—including fountains, an ice rink, the music pavilion, a pedestrian bridge and more—that will be added later based on other expected private donations.

In its successful bid, Walsh/II in One committed to a high level of participation by minority-owned and woman-owned subcontractors: 30% and 10%, respectively. The venture also committed to hiring at least 50% minority and 10% women as journeymen, apprentices and laborers working on the site; and that at least half of the general labor and skilled trade construction work on site would be performed by city residents.

The other bid received for this work was from McHugh/Riteway Joint Venture at $18.9 million.

This contract encompasses the westernmost 11 acres of the total 24-acre park. If the construction schedule is not impeded by bad weather or other unpredictable delays, the work covered under this contract should be completed next summer.