Tamaqua Area School Board on Tuesday decided to rebid a project to erect a storage building and new concession stand at the stadium after bids came in higher than expected.

The board discussed the bids during its committee meeting ahead of the board’s regular meeting. Both meetings were held Tuesday night.

Three companies bid on the pole building, which the district needs to store and maintain its vehicles, as well as to move some of its central inventory out of the schools, Superintendent Ray Kinder said.

The project also involves relocating the football concession stand to make way for the new building. The district plans on demolishing the old concession stand and erecting a new one, which was also put out for bids.

Three companies bid on the 46-foot by 14-foot concession stand, and the bids came close to the low bid on the 120-foot by 50-foot pole building.

The lowest bid on the concession stand was $192,370, and the low base bid on the larger pole building was $212,292.

The low bid on the concession stand came from Zawada Enterprises, and the other bids were from Kobalt Construction, $494,162, and $479,162 with a flat roof; and L&K Construction, $212,000 and $207,000 with a flat roof alternative.

The low bid on the pole building of $212,292 came from Dutchman Contracting, and alternate for a concrete floor to the bid to $272,572. Another bid came from Kobalt Construction at $556,790, base bid, and $613,790 with the alternate for the floor.

The district accepted but did not open a third bid on the pole buildings from Zawada Enterprises on the advice of its solicitor, because the bid arrived late.

Both the administration and board were surprised by the bids for the smaller concession stand coming in just $20,000 less than the larger pole building.

The new concession stand does not include any equipment, as everything from the old stand would be reused, Kinder said. The stand is only a shell, he said.

“That’s ridiculous,” said Larry Wittig, board president. “How can this spec be so misinterpreted … $200,000 for a shell.”

Kinder said that the administration went through the bids, and they were not recommending that the board approve this bid.

With the two projects linked, the board discussed other options for placement of the storage building, and decided to rebid both the pole building and concession stand, taking that action at its regular meeting.