VIDALIA &045;&045; To pare down the cost of a Gateway Conference Center on the riverfront, local officials have decided to leave a few parts of the facility unfinished for now, Mayor Hyram Copeland said.

The town had originally estimated it would take $4 million to construct the center, which will include a welcome center, conference room and chamber of commerce offices.

But bids received that month were about $1 million higher than that.

As a result, Copeland said, &uot;we’ve decided to leave some offices unfinished …and the museum area (unfinished), in addition to restructuring the tower a bit … and complete them later as we have the funds.&uot;

With those changes made, said Copeland, the town will be ready to rebid a contract for the center’s construction late this month and award a contract in late July.

With that timetable, construction would start in August and would probably be complete by June or July 2006, he said.

Local and state officials, including Louisiana Gov. Kathleen Blanco, attended an official groundbreaking for the center last month.

The facility will be about 25,000 square feet and will house a welcome center, conference facilities, chamber of commerce offices and an interpretive exhibit/display area.

The meeting space in the center will be about 9,000 square feet and will be able hold between 800 to 1,000 people.

Vidalia has received federal, state and local funding for the project. Those funding sources included capital outlay grants, state funding for the visitor’s center and a local contribution of land.