Eastern Washington University hopes to issue a second call for bids in late July for a planned renovation and expansion of its Pence Student Union Building, says Troy Bester, the university’s senior project manager.

Only one contractor, Spokane-based Lydig Construction Inc., submitted a bid for the project when its first call for bids was due earlier this month.

At $33.9 million, the bid was $5.4 million over the university’s construction budget for the project, Bester says.

“If we could have made it work, we were going to press forward,” he says.

Bester says other contractors have indicated they will participate in the rebid.

Meantime, EWU is reworking the budget for the project, located at 516 Ninth, in the north-central section of the Cheney campus, about 17 miles southwest of Spokane.

“We’re compiling different scenarios,” he says. “We’re looking at potentially structuring documents to have more alternates built in so we can have more flexibility.”

The total budget for the project is around $40 million, which includes design fees, permitting fees, sales tax, and equipping and furnishing the building.

Bester says he’s not sure whether the university will increase the construction portion of the project budget.

“We’re hoping that with more general contractors (bidding), they will sharpen their pencils a little more,” he says.

The university is hoping to have a bid period of four or five weeks, meaning bids would be due in late August or early September.

“We’re optimistic construction will start in September,” Bester says.

The work will include a major renovation of the 120,000-square-foot student union building and construction of a 4,000-square-foot addition.

The project is designed to improve student and visitor ease of access, expand dining options, and increase space for student organizations, activities, and events.

Chicago-based global design company Perkins+Will is handling architectural and engineering services through its Seattle office. MW Consulting Engineers PS, of Spokane, is a major subcontractor on the mechanical, electrical, and plumbing portions of the design.

The PUB was built in 1968 and last expanded in 1994.

Bester says the university also must decide whether the project now will be constructed in one or two phases.

A single-phase project would take 18 months to complete, and a two-phase project would take 23 months.

The project originally was designed to be constructed in two phases, which would allow significant portions of the building to remain open during construction.

Looking ahead, EWU also plans to construct a 100,000-square-foot Interdisciplinary Science Center, which is in the predesign stage.

The building would include labs, offices, classes, and support space. It would connect to the existing science building on Washington Street, south of the PUB, Bester says.

LMN Architects, of Seattle, is working on preliminary design concepts for the Interdisciplinary Science Center project.