COLUMBUS, Ind. — The city has awarded a contract to Dunlap General & Mechanical Contractors for work on city hall’s lower entrance.

City finance director Jamie Brinegar said that the renovated entrance will have touchless, automatic doors and a second set of doors serving as an “air gap.” He also said at a previous meeting that the work will include new roofing for the door system in the hopes of preventing leaks.

Dunlap’s quote for the work was $136,800. Taylor Brothers Construction Co. provided a quote of $139,900.

“Both Dunlap and Taylor Brothers are companies we’ve done a lot of work with over the years,” Brinegar said at a recent board of works meeting. “We feel very strongly we could’ve gone with either one, but Dunlap does have the lower quote. So staff is recommending that the city hall rear vestibule removal and replacement work be awarded to Dunlap.”

The city requested a quote from Repp & Mundt but did not receive one. Brinegar said this may have been due to the project’s short timeline; he expects the renovations to be done “before Christmas.”

For more on this story, see Monday’s Republic.