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More details emerge on $100K stage Obama used in Tampa

 
Published Oct. 1, 2014

TAMPA —— MacDill Air Force Base released more details Wednesday about the nearly $100,000 contract it hastily awarded to a company to erect the stage that President Barack Obama stood on when he made a speech during a visit to Tampa two weeks ago.

Elite Productions, a company based out of Washington, D.C., Iowa and Michigan, was selected as a single-source contractor — meaning the work, at an estimated cost of $94,360, was not put out to bid.

In a form justifying it, the government wrote that plans for Obama's Sept. 17 visit were finalized only a day earlier and that "aside from Elite Productions, no other company is able to deliver the items required on the same day."

MacDill's public affairs office said Wednesday that the contract was awarded as a "1,000 person Gym Setup," which included a 20-by-12 foot main stage, a 24-by-4 foot media stage and "additional stage and riser sections" that were 16-by-4 feet and 12-by-8 feet.

Elite also provided drapery and audio-visual equipment.

"The audio package, lighting and stage setup were provided according to White House Communication Agency specifications," the MacDill office wrote in response to questions that had been posed Tuesday by the Tampa Bay Times.

But MacDill said it would not provide the line-item products and costs "as it may disclose contractor propriety information."

Contact Josh Solomon at (813) 226-3446 or jsolomon@tampabay.com. Follow @josh_solomon15