TUJUNGA : Library Project Bid Below City Estimate

The cost of replacing the overcrowded Sunland-Tujunga Library with a facility twice as big will cost less than city officials expected.

The apparent low bid, opened Wednesday, was $400,000 under the original estimate of $2.1 million.

“It’s definitely good news,” said Leslie Nordby, city principal librarian and branch library construction manager. All but two of the 12 bidders were under the city estimates for the project cost.

Claremont Construction Inc. submitted the $1.7-million bid to beat out 11 other contenders.

It will take at least six weeks before the city board of public works approves the bid award, which must be reviewed first by the city’s construction division and contract administration.

“That all depends on how clean the paperwork is,” said Nordby. The city also requires a good faith effort by the contractor to try to use minority-owned businesses as subcontractors, which must be verified, she said.

To ease overcrowding, the 41-year-old Sunland-Tujunga Library, at 7771 Foothill Blvd., Tujunga, will be torn down and replaced with a one-story, 10,500-square-foot building--twice its current size.