CARY - Plans to transform the old Cary Elementary school into a community arts center are moving forward. And the plans will cost less than initially expected.

The Town Council awarded a contract for the construction of the Cary Community Arts Center to New Atlantic Contracting of Winston-Salem. The company won the contract with a low bid of $7.78 million.

"Everybody was really thrilled to see what we thought would be a $15- to 17 million project came back with bids of $7- to 9 million," councilman Don Frantz said.

Slack demand for new construction projects had caused contractors to compete, which has helped cut prices. Meanwhile, the cost of building materials has plummeted.

The existing facility will be retrofitted to include 41,000 square feet of classroom, studio, performance and office space. New Atlantic also will build a 6,000-square-foot addition to include a stage and flytower. Construction is expected to begin in January and wrap up in 2011.

Council members expressed reservations about the multimillion dollar project earlier this year.

In June, town manager Ben Shivar recommended delaying the plans for one year.

But residents complained that the project, which was first proposed in 2003, already had been postponed too long.

"Everybody had their reservations about this," Frantz said. "But given the importance of that building to Cary's history and the attachment the community has to the facility, I think this was an important decision to make. ... To let that building sit there and rot would have been foolish."