Oak Ridge hears plan to renovate historic Federal Building as top option for city offices

Greg Campbell of DIA Architects told the Oak Ridge City Council that renovating the city’s historic Federal Building is the most sensible long‑term option to consolidate municipal offices, courts and some school administrative functions. “It is the most long term common sense plan,” Campbell said, adding the building has “great bones” but would require extensive interior work.

The recommendation followed a presentation that laid out three strategies: fully renovating the Federal Building in various program permutations, building a new joint public‑safety building with renovations to the municipal building, or constructing a new, larger municipal complex. Campbell presented rough‑order magnitude cost ranges and schedule approximations for each option and emphasized that the numbers were preliminary.

Why it matters: consolidating scattered departments could improve interdepartmental communication and operational efficiency, but the council must weigh upfront cost, long‑term maintenance, and historic‑preservation constraints. Campbell estimated a full program (design through completion) for the Federal Building renovation could span about four to five years; he also said the construction phase itself might run roughly 12–14 months once documents and bidding are complete.

Key details from the consultant’s analysis: the architects provided market‑based, order‑of‑magnitude estimates for the scenarios presented. For the Federal Building renovation Campbell cited a preliminary range in the presentation materials; other scenarios included an estimated $19 million to $21.5 million range for a new public‑safety building and larger figures for new full municipal or school construction. Campbell repeatedly cautioned that these are architect‑level, early‑stage estimates and that contractors’ bids and deeper investigations could change the numbers.

Council members probed practical issues: several members warned about “project creep” and cost escalation, referencing recent municipal projects that grew in scope and cost. One council member said a recent new‑construction project experienced roughly a $20 million overrun; the comment underscored council concern that renovation of an older, complex building could reveal unanticipated structural or mechanical work. Campbell said the team has inspected the roof and large mechanical equipment and that a next step — if the council asks the team to proceed — would be a deeper building assessment to identify potential hidden costs.

Historic‑preservation constraints were also prominent. Campbell noted that parts of the Federal Building are on the National Register or will be subject to National Park Service review; exterior changes are limited and window replacement or insulation measures will likely need National Park Service approval, although approaches such as sympathetic second‑window systems exist.

Intergovernmental and program coordination: staff told the council the city appears to be 'first in line' with the General Services Administration (GSA) for disposition of the property and estimated a GSA approval timeline of a few months to start the transfer process. Council members asked that the city coordinate closely with the school system before finalizing a direction that would include school office space; staff said they had met with Dr. Borchers and would reapproach school leadership for formal feedback once council indicates an inclination.

Next steps: Campbell and staff asked the council to identify one or two options for a deeper cost and schedule dive and offered to produce more detailed pro formas — including potential lease revenue scenarios for upper‑floor office space — and a more exhaustive building survey to limit scope creep. No formal action or vote occurred at the meeting.