Cheyenne Botanic Gardens Director Shane Smith says the gardens is going to try a different approach to taking bids for a renovation and expansion project.

Laramie County voters in 2012 approved spending $16 million in sixth penny sales tax revenues for the project. But when the city took bids for the work earlier this year, they all came in at least $4 million over budget. So Smith says the city is now going to try the Construction Manager at Risk (CMR) system, in which the city will work with a contractor to keep the costs down.

That possibly may mean some design changes or other steps to reduce the cost of construction. Smith says the CMR method will allow the city to set a maximum price for the project to keep it within the funding parameters.

It's not clear at this point how the change in bidding strategies will effect the time frame for completion of the project, according to city Parks and Recreation Department

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