The city has awarded a more than $4 million bid to demolish and rebuild the Budlong Pool, and has set an expected 2025 completion date.

“News of the bid awarded for the Budlong Pool has provided much excitement and anticipation,” Cranston Mayor Kenneth Hopkins said Tuesday morning. “This project is not only a construction endeavor but is a symbol of community growth and investment for future generations.”

The city accepted a $4,247,747 bid from Waltham, Massachusetts-based Vantage Builders at the July 16 Board of Contracts & Purchases (BOCAP) meeting.

According to Hopkins’s Chief of Staff Anthony Moretti, there were five original bidders, and “three re-bidders after ‘value engineering’ specification changes.” Moretti said workers from the city’s Department of Public Works will perform around $300,000 worth of tasks related to the project.

“This project strikes a balance of preserving the historical value of the century old facility while providing the latest technologies for pool safety and amenities,” Hopkins said. “I am sure, that this pool will be embraced by all when it reopens next summer.”

According to Moretti, the contractor has an expected completion date, for demolition and reconstruction of the pool, for May 15, 2025.

Demolition is slated to commence after the city receives approval of archival photos from Rhode Island Historical Preservation Commission, “expected later this week or soon after,” Moretti told City Council Monday night. Construction will follow soon after, and wrap up just before summer of next year.

An asbestos survey and abatement, as well as removal of lead fixtures, will also precede construction (Moretti said the survey was completed in February, and the cost was included in the lump sum contract with the architecture firm, Saccoccio & Associates, of Cranston).

City Councilors Kristen E. Haroian and Robert J. Ferri requested an update on the Budlong Pool for Monday night’s meeting and Moretti obliged.

The asked Moretti to provide the “exact amount of funding left to complete project (in writing; listing total allocated, minus an itemized list of expenses to complete project).”

According to Moretti, the city spent $377,570 on design and $14,045 on historical archiving; and is projected to spend $4,247,747 on demolition and construction. That’s a grand total of $4,639,362, which will be covered by $4,000,000 in federal American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA) funding, and $750,000 from a “Congressional grant” applied for by the mayor’s office (total, $4,750,000). According to Moretti, the city has $110,638 in remaining funds left over for contingencies.