Encinitas Community Park Update: Phase One Base Bids Higher Than Expected

In mid-April, Mayor Jerome Stocks announced the city was seeking bids for the long-planned Encinitas Community Park, known as the Hall property, .

According to the city’s website, the park will eventually include a children’s play area, multi-use athletic fields, a walking and jogging path, a skate park, a teen center, a dog park, an aquatic center, restroom facilities and an amphitheater.

“Phase one includes the skate park, the dog park, the soccer fields, ball fields and the softball field,” said John Frenken, Encinitas park and beach superintendent.   

The city has since received five bids for phase one of the park. It’s currently unknown how many phases there will be and when other items like the amphitheater will be built, according to Frenken. 

To give itself more funding options, the city asked for two kinds of bids from contractors: base bids and alternate bids.

“If you were to put all of the items as one project and you have X dollars, if the bids come in over, you can’t pick and choose which amenities you’re going to add or subtract,” said Ed Deane, senior civil engineer.

The base bids are a package that contain the grading and basic infrastructure of the park, including items like removal of gas mains, earthwork and putting in sports fields. The city initially estimated the base bids would cost $10.9 million. But five contracting firms submitted base bids of about $13.8 million, $14.7 million, $14.6 million, $14.6 million and $15.2 million. You can review all of those bids in the PDF files attached to this story.

In contrast to the base bids, the alternate bids, items like the skate park, dog park and softball field, may not all be built during phase one. Depending on funding, the city will choose whether to build all or a select number of alternate bid items on an individual basis. Alternate bid items that are passed up for phase one may be built during future phases, according to Frenken.

A group of skateboarders is expected to congregate at the next city council meeting to discuss the proposed skate park. Under the alternate bids, there are three versions of the skate park, ranging from a full park to a stripped down version. The city initially estimated the full skate park would cost $1.1 million. The five contracting firms submitted base bids of about $1.1 million, $1.3 million, $1.4 million, $1.4 million and $1.9 million.

According to Frenken, city will likely hold a workshop in July to discuss the bids and funding options.