UI awards first bid to renovate flood-affected buildings

The construction firm that built the Adler Journalism and Mass Communication Building, which was completed and opened for classes in January 2005, has been awarded the contract to restore that structure and an adjacent classroom building through a competitive bid process.

Flooding this summer caused extensive electrical and mechanical damage to both buildings. With four companies submitting bids, Miron Construction of Cedar Rapids, Iowa, has emerged as the low bidder with a $2.8 million bid. The firm will restore the buildings to pre-flood condition. Work on the two buildings will begin Monday.

According to Sadie Greiner, associate director of construction management in UI Facilities Management, Miron Construction will use many of the same personnel on this project who were involved in the original building of Adler. Completion of both facilities is likely by mid-September, she said, with Becker slated to open by the start of classes on Aug. 25.

"We were very pleased with this bid and that the low bid was submitted by the firm that actually built one of these buildings," Greiner said. " We are well on our way to rebuilding the University of Iowa after the flood so we can make it functional again for our students by fall."

The Philip D. Adler building houses the School of Journalism and Mass Communication in the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences, along with the Daily Iowan and the Department of Cinema and Comparative Literature. The Becker Communication Studies Building, located adjacent to Adler, is the home of the Communication Studies Department in the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences.

STORY SOURCE: University Relations, 101 Jessup Hall, Iowa City, Iowa 52242-1000

MEDIA CONTACT: Linda Kettner, university spokesperson, 319-384-0030, linda-kettner@uiowa.edu