Vashon Allied Arts will delay construction of its new performing arts center after recently learning that building costs will be higher than anticipated.

The organization now plans to break ground on the Vashon Center for the Arts next spring and will spend the next few months working to lower costs for the project and continuing to fundraise to cover any added expenses.

“I was disappointed, but now we’re in problem-solving mode,” said VAA Director Molly Reed. “You just deal with it. We’ve been through so much with this project over a long period of time. We’ll get through it, and we’ll build the building.”

VAA held a well-attended groundbreaking ceremony for the building late last month, just as its general contractor, Seattle-based Sellen Construction, was bidding out the project.

Shortly after the groundbreaking, Reed said, VAA learned that Sellen did not receive as many bids from subcontractors as anticipated and that many of the bids it did receive were higher than expected.

Those involved with the project attribute the issue to the current building boom in Seattle. As the region recovers from the recession and grows, many construction projects are  happening. As a result, there is a shortage of construction workers, and contractors can demand higher prices and pick and choose what jobs they take on.

“Had we had the money two years ago, it would have been prime time to be able to build,” said Tim Roden, the president of VAA’s board. “When you factor in the building boom in the Northwest and specifically the Seattle region, and the fact that you’re building an arts center on an island that you can only get to by ferry, those two things have an impact.”

While Sellen expected to see three to five subcontractors bid on each part of the project, many items saw only one or two bids. VAA had added $800,0000 to its budget for the building in the last two years to account for inflation and the construction climate, bringing the total to $17.7 million. But Reed said that turned out to not be enough.

“It was so unexpected, and we thought we had done everything right and budgeted for cost escalation, so it was a very unpleasant surprise when it came back higher,” she said.

Kirk Robinson, the project manager, noted that Seattle is the fastest growing city in the nation right now and said Sellen could not have predicted it would struggle to get lower bids.

“If we could predict it, we would have,” he said.

While the setback will prevent VAA from opening the new building in time for next year’s holiday concert season as planned, VAA officials say they remain positive. Over the next few months, VAA and Sellen will work with subcontractors to find ways to lower costs, and they may re-bid some parts of the project as well. There will be no significant changes to the building plans, they say, but details such as carpets and railings could be replaced with more affordable alternatives. For instance, Roden said, perhaps a less expensive heating and cooling system could be installed.

“But that quality level for us laypeople, we wouldn’t notice any difference,” Roden said.

“At this point we’ll look at everything that will not impact our permitting process or the functionality of the building and what we have planned for the theater,” he said.

VAA will also expand the project’s budget and do additional fundraising to cover added costs, though officials say it is too soon to say how much will be needed.

When VAA held its groundbreaking ceremony last month, it had less than $1 million left to fundraise. Roden said the organization will continue to seek private donations and grants. The project has wide support, he added, so he expects they won’t struggle to bring in any extra funds.

“We don’t know what the bottom line is yet,” he said, “but Molly and the campaign committee haven’t stopped.”

Breaking ground in the spring will also come with advantagea. It’s easier to do groundwork in drier weather, Robinson said, and some subcontractors may be more likely to bid on a project that begins in the spring rather than at the start of the rainy season.

The project is still expected to take about a year, so VAA is looking to complete the building in spring of 2016.

“We’re moving from a holiday extravaganza to a spring opening,” Roden said.