Mason City council to approve first bid package for Southbridge Mall arena

MASON CITY — The City Council in Mason City tonight will consider approving the details of the first bid package to start the process of constructing a multi-purpose arena as part of the River City Renaissance project. The arena will be constructed in the space formerly occupied by JC Penney on the west end of Southbridge Mall.

The first bid package includes things like: electrical demolition; mechanical demolition; concrete slab, exterior wall and interior partition demolition; and earthwork and mass excavation. The 13-day bidding period actually started back on December 28th with bids due on January 10th.

The council at their January 15th meeting will receive a recommendation from the ICON Architectural Group of Grand Forks North Dakota, who is working with the city on designing the multi-purpose center, on which qualified bidder should be chosen for this phase of the project.

City Administrator Aaron Burnett in a memo to the council says the lease on the multi-purpose arena space has been signed by the mall owner and it is planned for the council to take separate action on the lease at their January 15th meeting.

The council meets at 7 o’clock tonight in the Mason City Room of the Public Library.