Steamboat Pilot & Today

Steamboat Springs — The parishioners of Holy Name Catholic Church are cautiously optimistic they can break ground in June on the expansion of the church in Old Town Steamboat Springs, and a church spokeswoman said this week that church officials would like to use local subcontractors as much as possible.

“A primary goal is to do all that we can to provide jobs for local companies and individuals,” Jo Lauter wrote in a news release. “Our highest hope is to serve this community in the very best way we can. An essential part of this service is to enhance the local economy.”

She added that Fox Construction, of Steamboat, is the general contractor and that bids from subcontractors are being sought.

Tom Fox, of Fox Construction, said Tuesday that the original deadline was the end of April, but a request from the project architect could extend the period into the first week of May.

Holy Name, which has been raising funds for the nearly $6 million project since 2010, received a big boost in December, when a part-time Steamboat resident put up a $1 million challenge donation.

Lauter said the results of the bidding process for subcontractors likely would determine whether the construction project could break ground in two months.

Fox said that his firm’s client is actually the Archdiocese of Denver and that Fox Construction has an obligation to recommend to the church a range of qualified bidders. However, the archdiocese tends to look favorably on local contractors who are qualified to do the work.

“We have a fiduciary obligation to the archdiocese to get the best bids and prices that we can,” Fox said. “The archdiocese is fairly good about encouraging that local subcontractors are included in the project. The most qualified contractor is not always the lowest bid.”

The actual construction cost is expected to be in the range of $5.5 million, not including expenses like architectural and engineering fees, Fox said. Qualifying as a subcontractor will not be easy for some small, local firms simply because of the complexity of the job, Fox added.

“There are 93 pages of plans, and the spec book is about 1 1/2 inches thick. A lot of local people have the skills, but this won’t be easy for a one- or two-person painting or electrical contractor, for example, to qualify for,” he said.

Mindful that many small companies in the building trades have been through a difficult time, Fox pointed out that in addition to demonstrating they have the workforce to tackle the job, they’ll have to demonstrate they are financially sound with the wherewithal to see it through.

In some cases, local people in the building trades might consider joining forces to make a bid, he suggested. The stonework needed for the exterior of the church expansion is extensive, and he’s aware of several parishioners in that business who potentially could go that route.

Fox, a member of the Holy Name parish himself, said he would donate all of his fees to the project. Prospective subcontractors who are willing to reduce the amounts of their bids through a donation and realize a tax deduction should plan to quote their full bids near the top of the bid application and state their donations further down, he said.

Holy Name’s Father Ernest Bayer previously has told the Steamboat Today that the following the church has among part-time residents and visitors to Steamboat is a significant factor in the need to expand the church building.

When completed, the church addition will convert the existing building into a new narthex, or gathering space outside the worship area, which would double in size, accommodating 600 instead of 300 worshippers.

To reach Tom Ross, call 970-871-4205 or email tross@SteamboatToday.com