Bemidji City Council Awards 2026 Street Renewal Project to Sparky's Construction

Sparky's Construction walked away from Bemidji City Council's March 16 meeting with a $1,230,221 contract after the council chose the local firm from a field of four bidders for the city's 2026 Street Renewal Project.

Total project costs come in at $1,414,750, just under the $1.5 million budget set aside for the work. The city plans to cover the bill through three funding streams: leftover funds from a DEED grant used in an earlier phase, $500,000 in sanitary sewer funds, and $500,000 in water utility funds, both of which were set aside in the city's 2026 Capital Improvement Project specifically for this project.

The physical work will touch three corridors on Bemidji's northwest side: 10th Street NW from Jeannette Avenue NW to Park Avenue NW, 11th Street NW from Rice Avenue NW to Irvine Avenue NW, and Jeannette Avenue NW from 10th Street NW to 11th Street NW. The Bemidji Pioneer described the scope as covering a small portion of six roads, though three named streets account for the segments listed in publicly available project documents.

Construction could begin as soon as May 11, weather permitting, with an expected finish in September. A city memo cited in Pioneer coverage estimates work will get underway in July, with completion stretching into September or October, leaving some uncertainty about the precise start window that the city has not yet publicly resolved.

The project has been in planning since late 2025. The council approved a feasibility report in December 2025, held a public hearing in January 2026, and formally awarded the contract this month. Engineering firm Freeberg & Grund will assist with design and bidding as the project moves forward.

The street renewal award came on the same night the council also approved bid package No. 2 for Bemidji's ongoing rail corridor cleanup. That package includes replacing an existing 21-inch sanitary sewer line with a 24-inch line running roughly 200 feet across Minnesota Avenue NW, a prerequisite for the planned YMCA and hotel construction in the area. The initial phase of the rail corridor cleanup, which began in February 2025 with soil remediation, mass grading, and removal of vacant buildings, is expected to wrap up around June 2026. The same memo noted that designs for both the YMCA and hotel sites have progressed.