Will Redesign Project to Cut Costs : Burbank Rejects Bid for Road in Mall

Burbank city officials, not satisfied with bids for the job of opening the Golden Mall to traffic, said Tuesday that they will redesign the project to reduce construction costs.

Burbank City Council voted to reject the one bid that the city was seriously considering for the project. Shirley Brothers Inc. of Pasadena had asked $6.1 million to put roads through the mall and provide parking, but the city had estimated that the work should cost about $4.5 million.

Although the construction firm agreed during negotiations with the city to lower its bid by $534,960, John Mundweil, Burbank’s assistant public works director, said the revised cost was still too high. The developer would not agree to a scaled-down project, he said.

The council endorsed Mundweil’s recommendation that the project be redesigned for construction in phases to allow for greater control of costs and timing. Bids for the project, which involves replacing pedestrian walkways, fountains and other structures with a road, will also be requested in phases.

In the first phase, a pedestrian walkway between Angeleno and Olive avenues will be cleared to allow vehicles. The project will later provide for the widening of Orange Grove Avenue through the mall to provide more convenient access between a new, 10-screen movie theater complex and City Hall. Another phase will involve landscaping and other improvements on Palm Avenue.

The construction, which had originally been scheduled for completion by next Christmas, will extend past the Christmas season, Mundweil said.

The council last year approved a plan to open the mall, despite protests from residents who wanted to maintain the park-like setting and continue to limit it to pedestrians.