HANCEVILLE — The project to build Hanceville’s new senior center remains in the planning stages as the Hanceville City Council looks for ways to bring down the cost of construction.

The council discussed the senior center’s construction during a work session before Thursday night’s meeting, and architect Tim Burney brought some new cost estimates for the council to consider.

The original bid for the project came it at around $550,000, but after working with the contractor on some cost-saving measures and the city taking over some of the site work, plumbing and installing hand rails, the project’s price would likely be around $380,000 right now, Burney said.

He said the project has $325,000 pledged to it right now, with the Alabama Department of Economic and Community Affairs awarding a $250,000 grant, the Cullman County Commission contributing $25,000 and the Hanceville City Council setting aside $50,000 for the senior center.

“We’ve still got to come up with another $25,000 or $30,000 to bridge that gap from what’s been committed so far,” he said. “We’re getting real close.”

There has also been discussion from the city about re-bidding for the project, but with the costs of materials continuing to increase every day, that could result in a higher price for the center that the current bid, Burney said.

Mayor Kenneth Nail asked City Attorney Dan Willingham if the city would need to re-bid the project after making the cost-saving changes that have seen the price tag lowered by around $200,000.

Willingham said he usually takes the position that municipalities should re-bid when making substantial changes to a project that sees a large change in the work that will be done, as there may be some contractors who would have bid for the project if it that had been the original specifications.

The city will also be selling the current senior center to raise revenue for the project, and Nail said he anticipates the price will be around $30,000. Much of that money can be turned around to pay for the $15,000-$20,000 it will cost to pave the parking lot, but there should still be some left over for the new senior center’s construction, he said.

Nail said he has also spoken with Rep. Randall Shedd to see if the city can get any additional funding from the state’s discretionary fund or the Alabama Department of Senior Services, and he plans to go to Montgomery in the near future to speak with ADECA Director Kenneth Boswell to see if ADECA can contribute any more funding.

Burney said the city does have a time limit on the current bid, as the increasing price of materials means that a contractor can only guarantee a price for so long.

“He can only ask somebody to hold a price for so long because their prices are going up all the time, and it’s pretty typical that 90 days is about the limit of that,” he said.

Even if the city did sign a contract for construction right now, digging the footings and pouring the slabs for the building would need warmer weather, and it usually takes around four to five months for construction to be completed.

“If we re-bid it, that’s fine, it’s just going to be another month or two,” he said.