SKOWHEGAN — Skowhegan officials expect to know soon how much it will cost to build a baseball field — be it natural grass or artificial turf — at a long-planned athletic complex.

The Board of Selectmen voted Tuesday to put the portion of the athletic complex project that includes the baseball field, along with other infrastructure, out to bid to five contractors approved through a review of qualifications.

With bids due back Aug. 29, town officials expect the Skowhegan Recreation Advisory Committee to review them and make its recommendations to the Board of Selectmen in early September.

To have the field ready by spring 2026, a contractor must be on board this fall, according to Selectman Steven Govoni, who runs Skowhegan-based engineering and design firm Wentworth Partners & Associates Inc., the company hired to oversee the athletic complex project as clerk of works.

“At that point, we’ll really know where we are — what we have for money, what we need to spend and what the bid is,” Govoni said at Tuesday night’s meeting. “So that triangle gets completed.”

Steven Govoni Morning Sentinel file

Govoni was speaking Tuesday in his capacity as clerk of works, moving himself from his seat at the board table to the audience.

Overall plans for the community center expansion project at 39 Poulin Drive, for which planning began in 2006, include two sports fields, tennis and pickleball courts, a concession stand, new Little League field dugouts, a maintenance garage and other infrastructure.

Some residents and selectmen became frustrated with the project last winter, in part because the new facility is supposed to replace the previous homes of Skowhegan’s baseball and tennis teams at Memorial Field on Heselton Street. Those teams played this spring without home facilities in town because Memorial Field was sold to Maine School Administrative District 54 for the construction of its new elementary school.

The portion of the planned complex that includes the tennis courts was not included in the request for bids approved Tuesday. MSAD 54 is building its own tennis courts at the high school — just steps from the community center — using a state revolving fund and federal COVID-19 funding, Superintendent Jon Moody said previously.

Sending the phase of construction at the community center complex that includes the baseball field was first on the Board of Selectmen’s agenda in April. The move was delayed multiple times, however, as selectmen looked for the clerk of works, went back and forth on whether the field would be natural grass or artificial turf and decided to seek qualifications from potential contractors before sending the invitation to bid.

The bids are to include pricing and details for several options, including various playing field surfaces, Govoni said, and factor in future maintenance costs. Along with the baseball field, this phase of construction includes stormwater management infrastructure, a parking lot, an access road and other site improvements.

Five contractors have been approved to submit bids, based on a review of qualifications earlier this month by the town’s Recreation Advisory Committee. The contractors are Sargent Corp. of Orono; R.J. Grondin & Sons of Gorham; R.A.D. Sports of Rockland, Massachusetts; Vaughn D. Thibodeau of Bangor; and Ranger Construction Corp. of Fairfield.

The committee looked at eight contracting firms that had submitted qualifications for this kind of project. Another contractor that submitted information was initially considered, but ruled out, at the advice of the town’s attorney, because it did not meet the guidelines and deadline for the request for qualifications, Govoni said at an Aug. 6 meeting of the Recreation Advisory Committee.

“We can stand behind choosing any one of these as the winning bidder, when that time comes,” Govoni said Tuesday.

Whether the town now has enough money to build the complex in its entirety remains unclear because only part of the project has gone out to bid. Available funds include $1.9 million from selling Memorial Field to MSAD 54, a $200,000 donation from New Balance, $3 million of federal funds from a congressionally directed spending package and several hundred thousand dollars in capital reserve funds.

Bids received this spring for the maintenance garage, concession stand and Little League field dugouts at the community center complex were greater than what selectmen had expected. The three bids for the concession stand and dugouts ranged from about $622,000 to $1.03 million, according to records.

Govoni and Selectman Paul York, the board’s chairman, said Tuesday that the town is continuing to look at alternative, more cost-effective options for the concession stands and dugouts.

No bids have been awarded.