Construction of a 600-square-foot concession stand for the football field at the Luter Sports Complex has begun.

An invoice by Athens Building Corp., the project contractor, lists just over $73,000 in work performed June 24 through July 10. The invoice, included with the agenda for Smithfield’s July 22 Town Council committee meetings, is slated for approval at the council’s Aug. 6 meeting.

The invoice lists an estimated completion date of Nov. 22.

The council awarded the job to Athens, the lowest of six bidders, in May. Athens, which is also under contract to rebuild the footbridges at the town’s centrally located Windsor Castle Park, bid $624,900 in April to construct the two-story brick structure that, in addition to a concession stand, will house bathrooms and a second-floor conference space for Smithfield Packers Youth Sports, which administers the Luter Sports Complex’s football program.

The project, including a 10% contingency budget, was projected to cost just under $700,000 as of May. The work is being funded with federal pandemic relief money the town received from the American Rescue Plan Act, or ARPA.

Smithfield received $8.7 million in ARPA funds, most of which the council put toward costly one-time infrastructure expenses. Roughly $928,000 remains unallocated.

Plans for a nearly 4,000-square-foot maintenance building at the Luter Sports Complex for all town-owned parks, which was originally slated for the ARPA funding the council reallocated to the concession stand, remains on hold due to cost estimates having soared to over $1 million.