Bids for the Cottingham Stadium project came Wednesday in at $20 million, well over last year’s estimate of $13.3 million.

While the news was sobering to the Easton Area School Board, the unexpected cost increase shouldn’t affect the district’s ability to rebuild Palmer Elementary School or the high school pool. There should be enough to fund those projects from a $110 million bond issue thanks to cost savings on renovations at Paxinosa, Tracy and Forks elementary schools, according to school district Chief Operating Officer Michael Simonetta.

Josh Grice of D’Huy Engineering said the construction market is saturated. Most construction companies have more work than they can handle and can afford to inflate their bids knowing that they have other jobs to fall back on.

D’Huy President Arif Fazil said the board should be grateful it had so many bidders, including five general contractors. The competition assures they got the best price the market could bear. The district put off the bid opening until Tuesday to allow last-minute bidders to jump in.

Still, resident Paul Perignani of Easton said $20 million is a lot to spend on a stadium used for just a handful of football games a year. No other high school sport is played at Cottingham. Most are played on the turf field at the high school in Palmer Township.

“It was $13.5 million. Now it’s $20 million. Wow. That’s going to be a shock to the public,” Perignani told Easton Area School Board members during a meeting Wednesday night.

That $20 million figure includes soft costs such as engineering and architects’ fees. The project minus the soft costs came in at $17.3 million.

The school district couldn’t let Cottingham deteriorate any longer, according to school board President George Chando. The stadium built in the 1920s is long overdue for replacement. It’s not even equipped with railings for older residents to ascend the bleachers.

“We have an old stadium. It is what it is,” Chando said. It must be torn down and replaced, he said.

“There is no reconditioning it. There is no repairing it. We’ve got to move forward,” he said.

Photo of the old visiting locker room at Cottingham stadium in Easton. The cheerleaders reclaimed a portion of the room and hung a tarp to block off this portion of the room.Rudy Miller | For lehighvalleylive.com

The board will vote next week on whether to authorize spending up to $20.8 million on the stadium between North 11th and 12th Streets along Church Street in Easton’s West Ward. That amount includes funds for a home press box elevator, an enclosed visitors’ press box and brighter lights to support a semi-pro soccer team at the stadium.

Without those alternates, the price comes down to $20 million. The board could pull back any of the three alternates by Dec. 1 even if they’re initially approved at the Sept. 10 meeting. The bright lights could allow the stadium to host games for Bethlehem Steel FC, the minor league team of the Philadelphia Union of Major League Soccer.

Chando already said he opposes the elevator and enclosed visitors’ press box.

“This is a high school stadium. I don’t know if we need the Taj Mahal of press boxes,” he said.

While the price is steep, the new stadium should last as long as the original, according to architect Randy Galiotto. The end product will be a stadium like no other, Fazil said. Cottingham is legendary in Easton football lore and Cottingham 2.0 will be equal to the legend, according to Fazil.

“This is going to have the character that you deserve,” Fazil told the school board.

The district hopes to start demolition after this football season ends and have the new stadium ready for the 2020 football season.

Rudy Miller may be reached at rmiller@lehighvalleylive.com. Follow him on Twitter @RudyMillerLV. Find Easton area news on Facebook.