County parks officials are reviewing four bids for a new, 40-foot

An aerial view of Colonial Park, showing where the new pavilion will be located.
Source: Somerset County DPW Engineering Division

pavilion, slated for Colonial Park.

The structure, which has been budgeted at $225,000, is designed to be placed near the baseball diamond along Mettlers Road.

The bidders in the running for the project are Louis Barbato Landscaping of Holbrook, NY, which bid $208,333; Whirl Construction of Port Monmouth, which bid$219,043,70; V&K Construction of Edison, which bid $242,555, and DeSapio Construction of Franchtown, which bid $319,864.

This would be the second pavilion placed in the park, said Raymond Brown, secretary/director of the Somerset County Parks Commission. One was placed near the park’s playground last year, he said.

Brown said the commission has wanted to upgrade the park’s picnic facilities for several years.

“The construction of new pavilions at Colonial Park allows us to address one of these needs in our most heavily utilized all-purpose parks,” Brown said in an email. “We work directly with the Park Division of the County Engineer’s office to locate, design, spec and bid improvements on a regular basis.”

“We think the public will be very pleased with this upgrade and I am confident that it will be a  popular destination for our many park patrons,” he said.

The pavilion planned for Colonial Park is similar to one recently constructed in Duke Island Park in Bridgewater, said Brian E. Mundhenk, the principal engineer for teh county public works departments’ parks section.

“The pavilions are ideal picnickers,” he said. “They provide a place to be out of the sun or rain, and they have been positioned at popular picnic areas.”

Mundhenk said the fact that two of the bids exceeded the county’s job estimate does not necessarily disqualify them.

“Contracts can be and frequently are awarded to bidders whose bid is over the estimate,” he said.

He said the new pavilion should be in place by next Spring.