It happened to Steve Harvey at Miss Universe, and then Faye Dunaway and Warren Beatty at the Academy Awards.
Mistakes can be made when the climactic reveal when a winner is announced, as the city of Columbus learned Tuesday as it aarded a nearly $2.2 million contract for the next phase of the State Street Revitalization Project.
Just before the Board of Works meeting adjourned, Columbus Redevelopment Director Heather Pope told the board the city had reviewed two bids for the next phase of the State Street project, which had been opened April 18.
She then recommended the board award the contract to Milestone and … stopped.
Turning to representatives of Dave O’Mara Contractor Inc., Pope then apologized, saying city officials were recommending the contract be awarded to the O’Mara group of North Vernon.
Dave O’Mara Contractor Inc. did have the lowest bid for the contract at $2,174,237. Milestone Contractors had submitted a bid of $2,198,000.
The second phase of the State Street Project has been divided into two sections. This contract is for the section that links the current Force Construction work on the Hawcreek Bridge to a new pedestrian trail and sidewalk through the east side of Columbus to Mapleton Street.
While this section has been labeled as 2A, the next section after that, 2B, will link the work on the east side of the bridge to downtown Columbus and Mill Race Park.
Dave O’Mara is being contracted to add new 6-foot-wide sidewalks along the south side of State Street from the Hawcreek bridge south to Pence Street, and a new 8-foot paved trail on the north side from the bridge to Mapleton Street.
New public green spaces are planned at Stadler Drive and at Indiana Avenue and State Street. The green spaces will have trees, brick pavers and puzzle benches, while the pedestrian streetscape will have new lighting and a sculptural red wave element along the path.
The project’s first phase, which cost $2.185 million, began last October and is expected to be completed by May 26.
The city is paying for the State Street Revitalization project using Tax Increment Financing district funds.
