A Chicago firm that bills itself as one of the nation's largest demolition companys has been selected to remove 90 buildings from the former North Princeton Developmental Center site.

Brandenburg Industrial Service Co., whose previous projects include work on the demolition of Veteran's Stadium in Philadelphia, submitted the low bid of just under $5 million.

The contract was awarded Thursday in a unanimous vote by the Montgomery Township Committee.

"Brandenburg is excited to receive the opportunity to perform remediation and demolition work for Montgomery Township," said Brandenburg Spokesman John O'Keefe.

Some of the 90 or so dilapidated buildings that comprised most of the former NPDC complex, contain asbestos. Prior to their demolition this summer, Brandenburg will have to remove all "friable" asbestos — asbestos that can easily be crumbled or crushed into powder — to prevent it from becoming airborne during demolition.

At Veteran's Stadium, Brandenburg processed concrete, and removed materials containing asbestos throughout the structure.

"We are obviously really pleased with the results of the contract process, because it did exactly what it was meant to do," said Mayor Cecilia Birge. "We ended up with a reputable firm, with the financial ability and expertise to perform this project."

With the awarding of the bid the township is set to move forward with the portion of the work slated for summer vacation, when children are not attending the Village Elementary School.

The school is located near the center of 250-acre former state institution and the safety of its children and staff have been a major part of the planning for the cleanup and demolition of the site.

A representative from the second-lowest bidder for the work, New Jersey-based Mazzocchi Wrecking Inc., said the company planned to pursue legal action against the township if the contract was awarded to Brandenburg.

The bid for the work from Mazzocchi was $6,727,960.00, about $1.7 million higher than Brandenburg's bid of $4,968,576. Four bids were received in all, officials said.

Representatives of Mazzocchi had presented the township with a written objection to Brandenburg's bid on April 17, stating the Brandenburg had unfulfilled registration requirements and lacked a plumbing contractor for the work.

The counsel for Mazzocchi said the legal action would ensure that all of the bidding statutes that apply to the process would be carried out.

Township Attorney Kristina Hadinger said that such legal challenges are common in this type of bidding process, and that the township probably would face legal action no matter which contractor it chose.

The Township Committee asked the township engineer, Gail Smith, for her assessment of Brandenburg's bid before adopting the resolution.

"I recommend the committee select Brandenburg as the contractor for the demolition work," said Ms. Smith. "They have assured all standards for the bid."

Township officials said they do not believe the legal challenge from Mazzocchi would delay the demolition work, but they will fight the challenge to ensure a punctual start to the planned work.

"This project is very time sensitive, especially because of the safety of a summer schedule, something strongly desired by the Montgomery community," said Mayor Birge. "This has been made clear in the community information forums."

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