Bids for the Daviess Commons project in downtown Washington were received at a special meeting Thursday afternoon at the Washington City Council Chambers. The Commons is a joint project entailing a partnership of private groups, the City of Washington, and Daviess County. The local Knights of Columbus have made a substantial contribution to the project. The Commons will be a gathering place for activities and downtown events. Ron Taylor of Taylor, Siefert, and Williams Design Group presided at the meeting. The project will include a market pavilion, a performance pavilion, restrooms, and other amenities in the area commonly known as the Jay Myers parking lot. Bids for the project were received from two area contractors. Danco Construction of Evansville entered a base bid of $3,138,000 and a $522,600 bid on the alternate 1 for a total bid of $3,660,600. Tabor Owens of Washington submitted the second bid, with a base bid of $2,687,484 and an alternate 1 bid of $467,475… for a total bid of $3,154,949. The bids were taken under advisement. Washington Mayor David Rhoads said he was very pleased with the bids. Plans call for the Commons project to get underway in the spring of next year. The mayor said he looks for it to be a yearlong project.
