The main contract price for construction of the Great Tapestry of Scotland gallery in Galashiels is more than a quarter of a million pounds higher than the estimate published a year ago by Scottish Borders Council.
A contract award notice, published today (Tuesday) reveals that the bid submitted by successful tenderers Ogilvie Construction, of Stirling was £4,898,397 (excluding VAT of 20%).
The figure is £298,397 (6.48%) higher than the guide price of £4,600,000 (excluding VAT) quoted by the local authority in the original contract notice posted on the Public Contracts Scotland website in March 2018 even though there were four bids lodged with the council's procurement team.
There was no mention of the increased value of the deal signed with Ogilvie compared to last year's prediction when SBC issued a detailed news release about the award last week.
The council statement said: "Stirling-based Ogilvie Construction has been appointed to build the landmark facility for the attraction, which tells the story of Scotland through one of the world’s largest tapestries created by 1,000 people from across the country.
"Work is expected to start in the coming weeks at the town centre site, which will be transformed with the creation of the new building. It has been designed by one of Scotland’s leading architectural practices, Page \ Park."
Councillor Mark Rowley, SBC's Executive Member for Business and Economic Development said:
“I am delighted we now have an experienced and trusted contractor in place to take forward the building of this nationally significant attraction, with the artist impressions indicating it will be a stunning piece of architecture in Galashiels town centre.
“Jobs will be created during construction of the facility alongside a wide range of social, economic and educational benefits once the building opens to the public.
“Heritage and culture experts predict the centre will attract over 50,000 people to Galashiels each year once opened, as well as create 16 new jobs at the facility.
“In addition, almost £900,000 of extra spending per year is predicted for the local economy, providing 12,000 extra visits to complementary attractions, supporting a further 17 jobs."
However, critics of the £6.7 million scheme have warned it will be impossible to go on attracting 50,000 visitors each year, and claim the predictions on economic benefits for the Borders are overblown.
Last November it was reported by the Border Telegraph that the project was already six months behind schedule although the project team insisted at that time the new Borders visitor attraction would be up and running by the spring of 2020.
But the invitation to tender suggested the work would involve a 16 month contract. The document envisaged an invitation to selected candidates would be made in July 2018 with work on site getting underway in October of that year.
According to the contract notice: ":The Tapestry is a unique community arts project to stitch the entire story of Scotland from pre-history to modern times. The Tapestry is a linear pictorial history of Scotland depicting key events going back 12,000 years. It is also the world's longest tapestry at 143 metres [469 feet) and consists of 160 separate panels".
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