NEW HAVEN — About eight companies have submitted bids to demolish the former New Haven Coliseum, and the proposed prices for razing the building are lower than city officials projected.

City officials will spend the next few weeks interviewing companies that submitted the lowest of the bids, which ranged from about $4.5 million to $9 million.

Earlier estimates were closer to $10 million and $12 million, officials said.

"It’s coming in a little lower, so that’s a good thing," Economic Development Administrator Henry Fernandez said.

In late July, the city advertised a request for proposals to demolish the 10-story structure.

The Coliseum demolition is part of a larger $100 million downtown redevelopment plan that includes a new parking facility, hotel and conference center and relocating the Long Wharf Theater downtown.

City officials expect to submit the latest plans to Gov. John G. Rowland’s staff in the next couple of weeks.

State funding for the project has been questionable because of the state fiscal crisis. City officials held off asking for the money this past fiscal year, when the budget crisis peaked.

Rowland said earlier this week that he is considering the four-year development project, but it’s too soon to promise the state funding.

City officials, meanwhile, have not settled on a bidder. The deadline for bids was July 22, but it will take a few more weeks to interview companies.

"We got (the bids) back and we’re going to be interviewing the three or four lowest bidders," Fernandez said. "We’ll be doing (the interviews) over the next couple weeks, and we’ll see where we come in terms of how much this is going to be."

The 31-year-old Coliseum was permanently closed a year ago because it was losing money.

A small, but vocal group from the Greater New Haven area is trying to save the Coliseum, but Mayor John DeStefano Jr. has said the demolition plans are moving forward.