County approves bid for pickleball complex near fairgrounds

It will cost slightly less than originally expected for Bartholomew County to construct a pickleball complex at Dunn Stadium.

County Commissioners approved a bid from Case Construction from Edinburgh of just over $573,000 at their meeting yesterday.

Last month, eight bids were opened for the project with two alternative options including a reinforced concrete surface instead of asphalt and furnishings at the site such as picnic tables and bike racks.

Base bids ranged from a low of just under $531,000 from Case Construction with a high bid of more than $837,000.

However, engineer Charlie Day with DLZ Corp said that there was an error in the Case bid, with an incorrect calculation on some materials, that actually lowered their base bid to just over $510,000. Day recommended that the county approve the Case bid with the site furnishings alternate at an additional cost of about $62,000.

Commissioners had estimated that the cost could be up to $600,000 to build the facility. The county also saved money by doing the site work with county workers.

The county is building a tournament quality, 12-court pickleball complex at the park, the only courts on the west side of Columbus. The goal is to finish the complex by October.