Redesign brings Belvedere’s Artist’s View deck bid under budget

A sketch by Tiburon landscape architect Christianna Seidel shows the viewing platform planned for Artist’s View, a city-owned open-space parcel at the southern tip of Belvedere Island. The city has since revised the platform’s structure to use more wood and less steel to cut costs. (Christianna Seidel via city of Belvedere)

After every bid in its first round came in over budget, Belvedere swapped much of the steel in its Artist’s View lookout platform for wood and awarded a $172,200 contract on the second try.

The City Council voted unanimously Oct. 12 to give the job to Modernscapes Innovations Inc. It approved the contract without discussion on its consent calendar, which is reserved for items considered routine. The council also authorized a $17,000 contingency for change orders, bringing the total construction authorization to $189,200.

Modernscapes’ bid was the lowest of three opened Sept. 30. Pridex Construction Group bid $220,000 and MARC Builders LLC bid $217,513, according to the city’s bid tabulation. The city engineer’s estimate was $150,000.

Public Works Director Antony Boyd told the city’s Parks, Open Spaces and Lanes Committee on Sept. 17 that the first request for bids, posted in July, drew what he recalled as four bids.

“Unfortunately, they were all above our budget, significantly above the city’s budget for that project,” he said.

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