AMHERST — A lone $42.7 million bid by a general contractor for expanding and renovating the Jones Library building, coming in more than $7 million over cost estimates, could be putting the entire project at risk.

“We are disappointed to have received only one bid, and shocked by the amount,” Ginny Hamilton, campaign manager for the Jones Library Capital Campaign, said on Monday.

On Friday afternoon, the only bid for the project from Fontaine Brothers Inc. of Springfield, was opened. That bid was $7.2 million above the $35.5 million general contractor bid estimates provided by owner’s project manager Colliers International. The total cost of the renovation and expansion was estimated at $46.1 million, which includes so-called “soft costs” for equipment and furnishings.

As it stands, the town has $39.1 million either in hand through a bond authorization and a state construction grant or pledged by donors.

Since the bid opening, town officials, including its financial team, along with library staff, have been meeting with Colliers and Finegold Alexander Architects to determine why the bid was so high.

Town Manager Paul Bockelman said Monday that the bid is being analyzed, noting that the town has 30 days to accept or reject the bid.

“Staff will review the status with the Jones Library Building Committee, Library trustees and Town Council in the coming weeks,” Bockelman said.

In December, the Town Council approved a borrowing authorization of up to $46.1 million, up from the $36.3 million commitment it made April 5, 2021. But councilors have indicated that they wouldn’t budge from the $15.8 million for which the town is responsible.

The state has included about $15.6 million in two allotments from the Massachusetts Board of Library Commissioners, an initial $13.8 million grant and an additional $1.69 million “pandemic escalation” money. The project has also depended on significant fundraising from the capital campaign and has also secured $1 million in grants from Amherst College and the National Endowment for the Humanities.

As of April 1, all sources combined total about $39.13 million. But already facing a gap between current commitments and fundraising of $7 million, the bid from Fontaine essentially means doubling that gap to $14 million.

“This number has shocked everything, as it is so far above the estimates,” Hamilton said, describing it as sobering.

The project, which received a planning and design grant in June 2014, calls for the original 1928 building to be renovated, an addition constructed in the 1990s to be removed, and a new addition to be constructed, bringing the building from 48,000 square feet to 63,000 square feet. The structure is to use cross-laminated timber hybrid construction, with a heavy timber structure on the upper floors while maintaining a conventional steel system on the lower level.

Included within the project will be a dedicated teen room, a special collections area not at risk of leaks and space for the town’s famed Civil War tablets. The work will also include other utility and infrastructure modifications, landscaping, hardscaping, parking and pedestrian area improvements, and the completion of a net-zero energy building that meets the town’s climate goals.

The timeline has been for the work, included demolishing the 1990s addition and renovating parts of the historic interior, to be complete by late 2025.

Hamilton said donors are continuing to pledge and she sent out an email Saturday to reassure that the project is still a go. “People were shocked, they were upset, but very supportive,” Hamilton said.

The project initially faced delays due to a lawsuit that led the Town Council to schedule a referendum vote in which it earned 65% support from voters.

Critics have long advocated for a more modest project of building repairs, asbestos abatement and mechanical upgrades that wouldn’t remove the 1993 addition.

But supporters of the expansion project have shown that detailed reports done by both Western Builders of Granby and Kuhn Riddle Architects of Amherst estimate minimum repairs and upgrades to plumbing and heating systems and accessibility in the $20 million range, all paid for by the town, meaning that such a project could be more expensive.

Those who have had concerns include Ira Bryck of Strong Street.

“I assume Fontaine Brothers knows their bid is $7 million higher than the Town Council’s promised limit on what they’d support,” Bryck said. “And I assume the Town Council … will responsibly decide that we cannot afford a $53 million library, especially if we are to have a new public works and fire station, not to mention elementary school, repaired roads, and taxes that our community can afford.”

Jeff Lee of South East Street has kept close tabs on the project and continues to worry that it isn’t affordable.

“From the very beginning I have felt that this has been an overly ambitious effort to attract state grant funds while ignoring the impact to Amherst taxpayers and the town’s other priorities,” Lee said. “I hope that the Town Council will realize that throwing more money at the library project as currently envisioned makes no sense.”

There is now some resignation that the bid may make the project impossible, even for those who have championed it.

“In the end, it may be that the unfortunate coincidence of the pandemic and the sudden spike in inflation have simply made the project unfeasible,” Hamilton said.

Scott Merzbach can be reached at smerzbach@gazettenet.com.