Women Veterans of KY Exhibit Design Fabrication & Install

The Kentucky Historical Society, in partnership with the Commonwealth of Kentucky's Tourism, Arts, and Heritage Cabinet, solicited qualified exhibit production contractors to design, fabricate, and install a temporary museum exhibit titled "Women Veterans of Kentucky" in the Keeneland Gallery at the Thomas D. Clark Center for Kentucky History in Frankfort. The 4,000-square-foot exhibit will be displayed for approximately seven months, opening May 26, 2022, and closing in January 2023, and will explore how women veterans from Kentucky have contributed to military service and their communities through three thematic sections: Strength and Resilience, Innovation and Adaptation, and Civic Duty and Ambition. Contractors must deliver a comprehensive scope of work including design and fabrication schedules, two text drafts for Kentucky Historical Society (KHS) review, three interactive components (primarily tactile), six oral history listening stations, three built environments or scene settings, marketing materials with preliminary layouts, detailed plans and renderings, final exhibit design documentation, and all necessary graphic files provided to KHS. Key project milestones include a design phase completion deadline of March 1, 2022, installation beginning May 9, 2022, with two mandatory site visits required. The RFP utilized a weighted 1,000-point evaluation scale consisting of Narrative Design Intent (300 points), Conceptual Drawings (250 points), Corporate Background and Experience (200 points), Vendor Design and Installation Capabilities (150 points), Cost Proposal (100 points), and potential oral presentations (5 points). Written questions were due by November 5, 2021, with the Commonwealth providing responses by November 17, 2021; proposals were originally due November 29, 2021, but extended to December 7, 2021, at 4:00 p.m. EST, with contract award anticipated by December 15, 2021. The initial contract term runs from December 6, 2021, through June 30, 2022, with an option for one additional one-year renewal period.

The Request for Proposal indicated that Kentucky resident bidders and qualified bidders may receive reciprocal preferences or additional scoring advantages up to 20 percent for Department of Corrections Division of Prison Industries or 15 percent for other qualified bidders, though no explicit minority or disadvantaged enterprise set-asides were identified in the procurement documents. Foreign entities must provide proof of registration with the Kentucky Secretary of State within 14 days of proposal opening to maintain responsive status; failure to comply may result in deemed non-responsive proposals or contract cancellation. The Commonwealth did not establish a project budget, as cost served as part of the evaluation process, meaning the contract value is determined through competitive bidding based on vendor-submitted cost proposals with the lowest bidder receiving maximum cost points and remaining proposals scored proportionally. The Kentucky Historical Society provided owner-furnished items including 34 cases of various dimensions, multiple vitrines up to 84 inches in height, numerous platforms of varying sizes, 33 Mila-Wall Series wall panels measuring 3' 3" wide by 11' 10" high with hardware, 75 LSI 290-00 series lighting fixtures, 29 barn doors, and 2700K LED bulbs rated at 13-17 watts; one vitrine was noted as broken and requiring replacement or repair. Contractors must submit proposals in three sealed packages (technical, cost, and proprietary information if applicable), each containing one original hard copy and two flash drives in Microsoft Word, Microsoft Excel, or PDF format, with all proposals remaining valid for a minimum of six months after the due date. The Commonwealth reserved the right to reject any or all offers, request Best and Final Offers, conduct oral presentations, and negotiate contract compensation based on submitted pricing.