LEWISTON – Councilors approved another $1.1 million in debt to keep development projects at the Colisee and at a Lisbon Street parking garage moving forward.

City Administrator Jim Bennett blamed most of the costs on booming steel prices. The bonds called for an additional $500,000 in spending at the ice arena and $600,000 at the parking garage.

The move even had one Colisee supporter questioning city motives.

“This is why Palesky is here, why people are even thinking about this tax cap,” said Mike Blais, owner of Blais Flowers. “The city gets into a project and then discovers it needs another $500,000. That’s quite a luxury, and I hope you realize it.”

City Administrator Jim Bennett said he didn’t like having to ask for more money.

“If anybody thinks this is part of some long-term, voluntary strategy to get you to approve a project and then come in and ask for more, they should have their head examined,” Bennett said. “This is a painful, miserable situation to be in.”

The additional $500,000 in bonds for the Colisee would bring the construction budget up to about $2 million. Plans call for adding a three-floor glass facade with a third-floor party room, second-floor concessions and first-floor offices to the ice arena.

Crews had to build a new retaining wall under the original ice arena’s wall and move the facade out several feet. That added about $250,000 to the price tag. Another $40,000 went to unforeseen asbestos clean up costs.

The rest, Bennett blamed on the international steel market. The price of steel has gone up almost seven times since June. An international steel consultant group, MEPS International Limited, has blamed the rise in steel prices on a building boom in China.

“You’ll see that built into both projects,” Bennett said. “In the parking garage, well over 50 percent is structural steel.”

Bids for the planned 377-space Lisbon Street parking garage came in high last month by almost $1 million. The city eliminated plans for an elevator, a decorative glass block lighting system, landscaping and fences, and decorative steel and architectural columns on the northern and southern sides. Those cuts, and a $200,000 grant from the state, brought the cost of the project down to about $4.6 million. The city had budgeted only $4 million, however.

Councilors agreed to both plans. They approved the Colisee debt 5-1, with Councilor Stavros Mendros voting against it and Councilor Renee Bernier abstaining. Bernier was the only person voting against the parking garage debt, and that matter passed by a 6-1 vote.