Four participants have applied for the open tender announced by SJSC "State Real Estate" (SRE) for construction companies to carry out the remaining construction works necessary for the implementation of the construction project of the Valmiera Drama Theatre (VDT) building until the commissioning of the facility, informs Jeļena Gavrilova, Member of the Board of SJSC "State Real Estate".
Tenders have been submitted by construction companies “AIMASA” Ltd, GP “P un S būvniecība”, “Velve” Ltd and “Pillar Contractor” Ltd. The contract prices offered range from €8.2 million to €10.3 million (excluding VAT). The winner and the exact amount of the contract will be known after evaluation of the tenders. In accordance with the terms of the tender, the estimated time for completion of the works is 14 months from the date of signature of the contract.
"We have taken another step closer to allowing the Valmiera drama Theatre collective to return to a well-maintained and energy-efficient home as early as the first half of 2024. The tenders submitted confirm that the termination of the contract with GP “SBSC” was the right decision. Price increase in the construction sector is lower than the previous builder predicted last year, requiring additional financial resources. We will start assessing the submitted applications today to ensure that the construction works on site will take place without unnecessary delays," Gavrilova said.
Until May, urgent construction work will continue in the VDT building to ensure the mechanical strength and stability of the load-bearing structures, including the reinforcement of the foundations, the construction and the erection of the load-bearing structures of the building in accordance with the solutions of the building design. The €1.75 million contract with the construction company “AIMASA” Ltd was signed at the beginning of November 2022 and the works are currently progressing according to the planned construction schedule.
SRE terminated the contract with the previous contractor of the VDT building construction works - the general partnership "SBSC", because after repeated requests it was unable to justify the construction cost increase of 50% of the construction contract amount or EUR 3.8 million (VAT included) in accordance with the regulatory enactments, including the guidelines on estimation and compensation of construction cost increase developed by the Ministry of Economics the causal link with the outbreak of hostilities in Ukraine, as well as the failure to provide documents to substantiate the validity of the claimed increase in several items of the estimate. Also, the actual execution of the works was significantly behind the contractual deadline – on 30th September 2022 the actual execution of works was only 21%, although according to the contractual schedule, it should have been 50% of the total workload.
The VDT building is a valuable example of modern architecture of its time and is a cultural heritage site. The main hall of the building - the Big Hall - was opened to the public at the end of 1996 instead of the former Latvian society house by architects M. Ģelzis, O. Upaciere and J. Guseva project as a large-scale modern wall building with two halls, a theatre museum, an art salon and a café. However, the theatre building as a whole was not safely commissioned until December 2004.
After completion of the reconstruction in the first half of 2024, the VDT building will have increased energy efficiency and improved energy management, it will ensure a more comfortable working environment for the theatre staff, a new black box hall and improved environmental accessibility. The estimated total cost of the VDT project is €10.41 million (including the costs of construction, design, supervision, equipment, etc.).
The procurement is implemented within the framework of the European Regional Development Fund (ERDF) project "Energy Efficiency Improvement at Valmiera Drama Theatre, 4 Lāčplēša Street, Valmiera" (ID No.4.2.1.2/18/I/019). The construction works will be implemented with the co-financing of the European Union within the framework of the Measure 4.2.1.2 "Promoting energy efficiency in public and residential buildings" of the Specific Support Objective 4.2.1 of the Operational Programme "Growth and Employment".
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