Thursday was the deadline to submit bids to build the new Art Museum of Western Virginia, but museum officials said no final decision on a contractor has been made.

"There's no comment yet," said museum executive director Georganne Bingham, shortly after the 5 p.m. deadline. "It's just an involved process. We're trying to pull it all together. Hopefully next year at this time we'll be doing hard-hat tours."

Among the general contractors who submitted a bid is Branch & Associates of Roanoke, whose projects have included Virginia Tech's Torgersen Hall.

"We were very interested and we did bid on it today," Branch president Steve Aud confirmed. "We would love to build it if it goes forward. We're very capable of doing it. It's an interesting project." He declined to disclose the company's bid.

The museum decided last fall not to use its pre-construction contractor, Hunt Construction Group, on the $46 million project. In early December, it announced it was putting the project out for bid, even though the process has put the project behind. The museum is striving to keep costs down against a backdrop of rising building costs associated with Hurricane Katrina. Bingham has said they expect building costs to rise.

In the past several weeks, museum officials and architect Randall Stout have talked with dozens of contractors and subcontractors about the project. Stout did not return phone calls Thursday.

In December, Stout said it was possible a Roanoke general contractor could handle the futuristic project, with its swooping, stainless steel roof and zinc-clad sides. "We think they can. The way they field their team might be slightly different."

Stout also said then the museum had elected to use sealed concrete instead of travertine in the entryway. "It's a more contemporary, edgier look," said Stout, and costs considerably less.