Missouri Western State University officials are crunching numbers to see who will build their spring sports complex on campus.

Bids from 11 contractors came in last week for the softball/baseball facility, with a low base bid of $3.49 million and a high base bid of $4.28 million. Alternate bids for items such as lighting, bullpens and asphalt parking add another $770,000 to $988,000 to the project.

E.L. Crawford Construction submitted the lowest base bid of $3,498,000. If Western officials decide to go with the eight alternate items on the bid sheet, the lowest bidder becomes Kansas-based Feyerherm Construction, at $4,319,600.

Dave Williams, Western's athletic director, said the bid amounts came close to their expectations.

"We are trying to determine right now what we think of the bids and whether we have the whole amount of revenue to cover things," he said.

Funding for the project comes via the Max Experience, a student fee that has already paid for improvements to Spratt Stadium and the basketball arena.

Missouri Western isn't required to accept any of the alternate bids and can revisit those items at a later date. Lighting, however, ranks high on the wish list. It's also the most expensive of the alternate bids, ranging from $276,000 to $372,000.

Construction could begin within a month and is expected to be completed by September 1, 2010.

The complex will be located east of McCarthy Drive and south of Faraon Street on university property.

Jimmy Myers can be reached at jimmym@npgco.com.

The bids

The following are base bids for Missouri Western's spring sports complex:

E.L. Crawford Construction: $3,498,000

Feyerherm Construction: $3,513,000

Vanum Construction: $3,527,000

Barsto Construction: $3,548,000

Brooner & Associates: $3,573,788

Lee Grover Construction: $3,630,064

Crossland Construction: $3,673,000

Lawhon Construction: $3,690,000

GBA Builders: $3,733,000

Lehr Construction: $3,853,085

Irvinbilt Company: $4,288,000