Main Street project delayed till June
The estimated $5 million downtown revitalization project is off to a later start than originally thought.
While it was first announced work could begin on the first phase of the Main Street McMinnville project this February, that goal was pushed back to either April or May. McMinnville officials are now saying construction isn’t likely to begin until June.
City Administrator Herb Llewellyn said this week city officials have been trying to coordinate between local, state and federal agencies because all are involved with the project. He said design changes, initiated both locally and federally, slowed progress.
Main Street McMinnville director Chris Wilson agreed, adding local officials have had to comply with the requirements of a grant source. The project manager from the Ohio design firm EG&G, Inc., Paul Roszak, noted officials were waiting for final approval from the Tennessee Department of Transportation as one reason for the delay.
“Everybody needed to be on the same playing field once this stuff came in,” Wilson said of the design plan. “Once they did submit it to us, we had to go over it ourselves. And the city had to go over it to make sure everything was good with them. And then they submitted it back to EG&G, who made the final plans up.”
Officials have announced a pre-bid conference scheduled for April 7 and said bids open April 15. Wilson said several days will be spent evaluating the bids and making a proposal to the McMinnville Board of Mayor and Aldermen.
“They pick somebody at that point and issue a notice to proceed and it’s probably another week or so after that. You’re basically into May at that point and they have to finalize things with the contractor and have meetings of that nature to get up to speed,” Wilson said.
“They have to start moving all their supplies and equipment and even hiring people, so there’s a whole lot of work within that period before they can actually start the work.”
Main Street McMinnville officials and members have set a goal of refurbishing the downtown area by creating new infrastructure and adding decorative sidewalks and landscaping in hopes of creating a more business-friendly environment, among other goals.
The organization is funded mainly by the city, whose former aldermen approved the city’s participation with the group in 1999 at the encouragement of the historic preservation group Heritage Alliance.
Main Street McMinnville was ultimately formed and members obtained non-profit status and formed a board of directors. Members of the organization have hired directors, conducted multiple community surveys and facilitated design concepts.
Now that there is a more certain date in mind for phase one construction to begin, which affects Main Street from between Chancery and Market streets, Wilson said he is encouraged actual construction is on the horizon.
“It’s wonderful. Now everybody can see we have a real date in mind,” he said. “All the other ones were just tentative and these are concrete dates. You can pretty well count on June unless there is some kind of major storm or something that would prevent this.”