The contract, which will give Lubbock-based contractor Craig Wallace Construction the go-ahead on the project, comes following the award of the bid to the company during the council’s meeting in October, according to Assistant City Manager Todd Darden.

“None of the details have changed since the bid was approved Oct. 13,” said Darden. “This contract is merely a formality following award of the bid. We only had two bidders when we opened the bids back in early October, and the low bid came from Craig Wallace Construction.”

Darden said the bid, which included all alternative amenities in the bid package, came in slightly higher than the city had budgeted, but by shifting some finances around, the city should be able to bring the entire project in within budget.

“It is slightly over what we currently have budgeted. However, Gary (Fuqua, city manager), Peggy (Walker, city finance director) and myself have talked it over and we feel that by restructuring the financing and interest rates on the package we can get it within budget. This is the same contractor that built the new Roy Anderson Sports Complex.”

Having already put the project out for bids twice — the first time using a construction manager at risk — Big Spring Mayor Russ McEwen said finally having the pro shop ready to move forward is a huge relief for him and the rest of the council.

“Relief. Absolute relief,” said McEwen with a laugh. “There was a great attempt by those of us with the city to do something special at the golf course because we feel like we have a great layout and we feel like we’ve done some great things with it. We didn’t want to just put up a metal building out there. And the idea was to get an architect that deals in this type of work to design something that’s not a rectangle. However, because of that, we ran into some problems. We put it out for bids and it came in way over budget, so it’s been a great frustration.”

Original talks with contractors had council members hopeful the new pro shop would be ready for the reopening of the course, which underwent major renovations in 2007 and 2008, an idea that was dashed when the first bids came in at almost twice what the city had budgeted, according to McEwen.

“When we originally talked to the architect, he said there was a possibility to get everything done and be in the pro shop when the golf course reopened in April 2008,” said McEwen. “However, we didn’t even have drawings in April 2008. There was a great deal of frustration and went through two bid processes before we decided to go ahead and take open bids. Fortunately we have something done.

“It’s like anything in life, we’re going to look back on it and say, ‘Wasn’t it interesting, those two years when we didn’t have a clubhouse?’” the mayor added. “However, when you’re in the middle of it, it’s a real pain. And we realize how inadequate the facilities are right now. We have a portable building right now, which isn’t fair to the golfers or the golf course itself. I’m really confident when this project is completed and people see it completed, they are going to be impressed.”

The meeting will get under way at 5:30 p.m. Tuesday in the City Council Chambers, located at 307 E. Fourth Street.

Contact Staff Writer Thomas Jenkins at 263-7331 ext. 232 or by e-mail at This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it