(Shawn Magrath photo)

NEW BERLIN – Hopes of awarding a bid for demolition of a downtown mainstay were crushed Tuesday after the New Berlin Village Board was greeted with estimates nearly twice the cost of what they expected.

The village board unsealed two bids for demolition of the corner building on Genesee and Main Streets, trusting that one would be approved Tuesday night.

But with each bid much higher than expected – one for $198,000 and the other for $154,000 – village officials instead tabled the issue with prospects of negotiating with bidders or possibly putting the project out for re-bid.