Centerplate was awarded the concessions contract for the Baltimore Convention Center after current concessionaire Aramark was disqualified for allegedly altering bid terms “inappropriately,” according to city officials, reports the Maryland Daily Record. The seven-year contract was awarded to Centerplate by the Board of Estimates because Aramark’s response to the RFP changed certain provisions of the original request and made its bid conditional on their acceptance, according to city officials quoted by the Daily Record.
By state law, the “conditional” nature of the bid invalidated it, they claim. A lawyer representing Aramark acknowledged the conditional nature of the company’s bid but countered that Centerplate’s bid was also conditional, and that this was understood as part of the process. Aramark had held the Baltimore Convention Center contract for the past 10 years, succeeding Service America Corp., a company that is now part of Centerplate.
