Administrators outline wide range in cost estimates for public safety center; commissioners say project needs clearer priorities
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Summary
City administration told the committee the public safety center renovation faces uncertain costs driven by code requirements, a possible curtain-wall retrofit and storm-shelter sizing; staff said a remaining, funded renovation estimate of $15.5 million for an initial phase could increase materially if hardening items are required.
City administration provided an update on the public safety center project and said final design work, building-code requirements and site-specific construction items have produced a range of cost estimates that need clarification before the city can finalize a phased move-out plan.
A city administration representative who led the presentation said the building, purchased by the city, was designed in the 1980s as an insurance call center and includes furniture and interior demountable partitions, but the design team and construction manager have found items that could substantially increase renovation costs if the project must meet current code and public-safety hardening standards.
Staff said the project is being planned in two phases because of constrained funding. The presenter said about $15.5 million remains budgeted to complete renovations for initial occupancy, listing several items still under evaluation: a curtain wall replacement or reinforcement for the building exterior (staff reported a testing evaluation on that element and expected results within two to three weeks), storm-shelter requirements driven by occupancy counts and code (the originally modeled storm-shelter planning number and cost estimates varied widely in review), and backup generators or mobile-generator solutions. The presenter described generator-related cost of about $5.5 million within the total program context and estimated that, if every high-end option were required, the total to complete Phase 1 could approach $25 million (the presenter said a $40 million aggregate figure had been discussed across phases in earlier estimates but clarified the current “gap” figure to move the first phase could be in a range from roughly $10.5 million to $25 million depending on which hardening items are required).
The presenter said staff has requested “a la carte” pricing from the design and construction teams to identify lower-cost incremental moves — for example, which departments could relocate into the new center at lower marginal cost — and noted the project team will provide more concrete cost estimates after final design and a two-to-three-week cost estimate phase with Flintco, the construction manager. Staff said some departments’ existing leased facilities (for example, City Medical and Mingo Valley divisions) could be consolidated into the new center and that consolidation could realize long-term savings, but that those leased facilities also have deferred-maintenance and upgrade needs that will affect total program economics.
Committee members pressed staff for clearer priorities and said they were concerned that the purchase was presented to the council as near-turnkey; several members expressed frustration at new information that revealed additional structural and code-driven costs. One member asked whether the city could proceed with a limited phased move (e.g., move essential police headquarters functions and City Medical first) and staff said the project team is preparing phased and itemized cost options to allow such prioritization. Staff said it expects to have more concrete cost targets by the end of the calendar year pending evaluations and construction-manager pricing.
