The Butler Transit Authority on Tuesday awarded four contracts totaling more than $2.5 million for construction of a park and ride, and expansion of the transit center on Hollywood Drive.

The project involves building an indoor-rider waiting area and park and ride at the authority's office, and a bus garage in the Pullman Center Business Park. Construction is scheduled to begin in March and be completed in 365 days, said John Paul, authority executive director.

The bids were opened in December and reviewed by Gannett Fleming, the authority's construction management contractor.

A $1,999,500 general construction contract was awarded to Fred L. Burns Inc. of Shippenville. A lower bid of $1,866,000 from R.A. Glancy and Sons Inc. of Gibsonia was considered nonresponsive because a document was missing from its bid, according to a letter from Gannett Fleming to Paul. The rest of the seven general construction bids ranged from $2.05 million to $2.23 million. The general construction contract estimate was $1.78 million.

The electrical contractor's contact was awarded to Penn-Ohio Electrical Company of Masury, Ohio, which submitted the lowest bid of $356,200. The six other bids ranged from $380,000 to $487,650. The cost of the electrical work was estimated at $413,000.

The mechanical contractor contract was awarded to First American Industries of Pittsburgh, which submitted the lowest bid of $179,000. The three other bids ranged from $188,000 to $205,000. The cost of the mechanical work was estimated at $302,000.

The plumbing contract was also awarded to First American Industries in the amount of $62,300. The low bid of $60,000 from East End Plumbing and Mechanical of Pittsburgh was deemed nonresponsive because a document was missing from the company's bid, according to a letter from Gannett Fleming to Paul. The rest of the seven bids ranged from $64,290 to $102,000. The plumbing work was estimated to cost $109,000.

Paul said the project includes building an indoor waiting area for riders, a park and ride lot and an employee training area and creating access for bicycle riders and pedestrians.

“We're looking for construction to begin in the beginning of March, the middle of March depending on the weather,” Paul said.

The authority is using federal funding earmarked for rural transportation to pay for 80% of the cost, and state and county funding for the remaining 20%, he said.

Engineering, design and construction management costs will add to the total project cost, but those cost amounts were not available Tuesday evening.

The new part of the building will include a display of memorabilia and photos from the Pullman-Standard Car Co., which built railroad cars in a plant where the business park is now located.

Authority board member Jim Diamond, a member of Pullman-Standard Historical Fund, said the display will include a drawing of the layout of the plant when it was built in 1902.

The display will compliment a refurbished Pullman-Standard car located just outside of the authority's facility in the business park.

In other business, the authority will return $377,461 it received from the Pennsylvania Department of Transportation to buy procurement, payroll, human resources and customer service software from Avail Technologies Inc. Paul said staff determined the software wasn't a good fit for the authority, and he canceled the contract to buy the software. The board approved returning the money to PennDOT, he said.

In addition, Paul said the authority is applying for $903,206 in federal CARES Act money to offset revenue lost from a decline in ridership on the commuter bus service between Butler and Pittsburgh due to the COVID-19 pandemic.