Local News in Brief : Board Accepts Bid for Horace Mann Building

The Glendale School Board has accepted a $2.36-million bid for construction of a 20-classroom building at Horace Mann Elementary School.

W. D. Gott Construction of Upland, selected Tuesday out of 14 who bid on the project, is scheduled to begin work on the addition in June. Construction is expected to take about a year.

Gott was not the low bidder on the project. On the advice of the district’s lawyer, the board declined to accept a $2.33-million bid from P & A Construction Inc. of Torrance, calling it a non-responsible bidder.

Referrals submitted by the Torrance contractor had given the firm poor references, and P & A had made several mistakes in the hiring subcontractors for the project, officials said.

The classroom building, which will be located next to, but not attached to, the elementary school’s permanent building, is being constructed to relieve crowding at the south Glendale school, district officials said.

Mann is one of the most crowded schools in the district, with 17 portable classrooms on what was once playground space. The school, built to accommodate 600 students, has an enrollment of about 1,000, district spokesman Vic Pallos said.