Cheyenne Botanic Gardens Renovation Project Delayed

The start of work on the Botanic Gardens renovation/expansion project has been delayed after all the bids to complete the work came in above the amount budgeted, with the lowest bid still $4,000,000 above projections.

City Parks and Recreation Director Rick Parish says that  department will now ask the city council to reject all three bids that were received last month. The department will ask that the city instead try to approach the project with a Construction Manager At Risk (CMAR) delivery method. Parish says that will allow the city, the architect and the contractor to work together on design changes.

The goal is to make sure the project can be completed within the allotted budget. Parish says officials still hope to begin work on the project later this year, adding the exact time frame for completion of the project is unclear at this point.

Laramie County voters in 2012 approved spending $16 million in sixth penny sales tax money for the expansion and renovation project.