The cost of a proposed weight and wrestling room renovation in Palmerton Area School District is coming down ahead of its rebidding, according to one director.

“We’re going to get it out to bid again but we think we have almost cut it in half,” Board Vice President Earl Paules said at a meeting Tuesday night. “It’s basically a mirror image of the original plan, but we just took everything from one end of the building down to the other end.’’

The renovation project includes a team locker room for wrestling and separate shower facilities for boys and girls, among other improvements.

Last month, Palmerton’s board voted 5-4 against proceeding with contracts totaling nearly $785,000 for the renovation. The decision followed a significant increase in the estimated project cost, which originally stood at $375,000 for general construction and $120,000 for heating, ventilation, and air conditioning in early 2023.

Michelle Mozingo of ALLOY5 Architects said that a substantial part of the added cost resulted from the necessity to remove and replace a concrete floor slab in the facility.

“We knew it wouldn’t be in great shape, but we didn’t know the extent,” Mozingo said in September. “It made the most sense to look at the full slab being taken out and starting from scratch.”

Paules, however, said by shifting showers to the other end of the building, much of that cost could be eliminated.

“Just by redesigning and relocating things, we can give our athletes everything they need without adding on to the building,” Paules said.

In May, the board accepted a proposal from the McClure Company for the HVAC portion, amounting to almost $215,000, with funding provided through the Elementary and Secondary School Emergency Relief Fund grant.

Paules said Tuesday that ALLOY5 has been working well with the district to revamp the project.

“They aren’t charging us any more to redo this,” Paules said. “It was $26,000 for them and it is staying $26,000. We are getting the numbers to fit our budget. We’re going to get the Chevy not the Cadillac, but it will get us where we need to go.”