Construction of a 600-square-foot concession stand for the football field at the Luter Sports Complex is on track to be completed on budget by mid-November, according to Smithfield Parks and Recreation Director Amy Novak.

An Aug. 14 invoice by Athens Building Corp., the project contractor, billed the town for just over $252,000 in work performed through that date. Smithfield’s Town Council approved payment of just over $166,000 in September and had previously approved just over $73,000 in August. No additional invoices over $20,000 from Athens for the concession stand have been included in council agendas since.

The August invoice listed a value of $382,762.71 for work remaining to be completed as of that date and estimated a Nov. 22 completion date.

The estimated value of the work as of August and work then yet to be completed totaled just under $635,000 but since then “we actually had some deducts, so … even after a change order to add a sink in the kitchen, we are still within budget,” Novak said.

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 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, administrator of the Luter Sports Complex’s football program. The project, including a 10% contingency budget, was estimated 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.

Plans for a nearly 4,000-square-foot maintenance building at the Luter Sports Complex for all town-owned parks,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.