The first bid package in a set of the three for the Whitefish High School construction project has come in under budget. The subcontractor bids for renovation of the gymnasium are $65,600 below previous estimates.

The Whitefish School Board Feb. 19 voted to accept bids for Bid Package No. 1 at a cost of $850,311.

According to general contractor Langlas & Associates, a total of 69 bids were received for 26 divisions of work. Forty of the bids were from Flathead Valley businesses.

“We’re very pleased with the results,” Loren Cantrell with Langlas said. “The bids we received we’re under budget over all by a 7 percent margin, which is good. We felt good about the responses on the bids in every category.”

The initial cost estimate for the gym construction was about $915,000. Work on the gym includes replacing the floor, bleachers and scoreboards, as well as construction of a mezzanine and weight room, new paint and demolition of the press box.

The school board unanimously approved the bids. Trustees Shawn Tucker, Shawn Watts and Dave Fern were absent from the meeting.

The district opened the bids on Feb. 14. Langlas, along with the district’s budget and oversight committee, reviewed the bids and recommended the lowest responsible bidders in each category to the school board.

“Langlas qualified the bids by looking at capabilities, past history, financial solidarity and scope review to make sure they have in fact done what the bid documents require,” Cantrell said. “That due diligence leads us to the lowest responsible bidder. We recommend that the board accepts the bids so we can write the subcontracts and begin work.”

Construction on the gym will begin in earnest next month. A combination of money from a state grant and private matching funds will pay for the gym work. Work must be completed no later than June 30 for the district to receive the funds.

Concerns were raised last week that the gym project might come in above earlier estimates. Crews recently took up a portion of the floor underneath the bleachers and discovered that the floor wasn’t constructed in a standard manner, thus likely increasing the cost for its replacement.

Superintendent Kate Orozco pointed to the work Langlas did to advertise the bid package to subcontractors. More than 400 invitations to bid were sent out, a notice was posted in newspapers, state and national builders exchanges and subcontractors were invited to town hall meetings at the high school.

“It’s noteworthy the rigorous process that Langlas undertook in order to get us to this place,” she said.

Two other major bid packages remain for the high school construction and renovation project.

Bid Package No. 2 for structural and site work has an estimated cost of $2.16 million and will be available Feb. 26 with bids due March 12.

Bid Package No. 3 covers the balance of the work from framing to finishes and is estimated at $10.7 million. The package will be available on May 1 and bids are due to the district May 21.