Mar 2

Mar 2 Company awarded $71.6 millon contract for the civic center's expansion

(THE MED CITY BEAT) - The City of Rochester has selected Knutson Construction as the general contractor for the expansion of the Mayo Civic Center.

The city council approved the Knutson's $71.6 million bid at a meeting Monday afternoon. The company, which has five locations including one in Rochester, was selected based on its experience and past performance, according to a report by the Star Tribune.

The expansion calls for the creation of a two-story convention center, a 38,000 square-foot grand ballroom and additional meeting space. The civic center's website notes the renovated facility will add 188,000 square feet in usable function space, nearly doubling the capacity of the current facility.

Local and state officials expect the project to create "hundreds of new full time jobs," while also increasing the area economic impact by about $370 million over the next 10 years.

The project had stalled for a number of years before receiving $35 million in funding last year from Gov. Mark Dayton and the DFL-controlled Legislature.

Construction is expected to begin sometime this spring and be done by late 2017.