By JAN LARSON McLAUGHLIN
BG Independent News
The city of Bowling Green has taken a step closer to bulldozing the current city offices and building a new $11 million structure.
Last week, the Board of Public Utilities voted to authorize a contract for the design and construction administration services with Poggemeyer Design Group and The Collaborative. The board also authorized advertising for bids and awarding a construction contract.
Mayor Mike Aspacher explained that City Council will soon be presented with the same resolutions.
“We appreciate your support,” Aspacher said last week to the Board of Public Utilities. “We think it’s very exciting for the community and the city.”
The board’s approval was needed because the city’s utilities department is paying half the cost of the new building, explained Utilities Director Brian O’Connell.
The new city administration building is proposed on the site of the current senior center. After years of delays, several pieces of the plan are falling into place – including the senior center moving out of its North Main Street building, the drop in interest rates, and the end to other debt owed by the city.
Last month, the results of a feasibility study for the new building were presented to City Council and the Board of Public Utilities.
“The conclusions of this study reinforce a long held belief of mine – that our current city building has reached the end of its useful life and also that our community deserves a city building that we can be proud of,” Aspacher said at that meeting.
The city contracted with Poggemeyer Design Group and The Collaborative to study the current city building at 304 N. Church St. and the current senior center building which the city owns at 305 N. Main St., then come up with a plan for a new city administration building.
The result was a plan for a new building using the front facade of the senior center. The rest of the current senior center and the city building would be demolished, as well as the house owned by the city just to the north of the city building on North Church Street.
The study found deficiencies with both the current city building and senior center – which were both built for other purposes.
Plans call for the city to continue using its existing building on North Grove until the new building on North Main is complete. The entire project is estimated to take two years.
The estimated costs for the project are:
• Demolition $426,250
• Site $877,300
• Building $7,389,837
• Soft Costs (like furniture, permits, surveys) $1,154,339
• Contingency $1,043,207
• Total Estimated Project Cost $10,890,933
Outside the new building, the plan calls for more green space and more parking with a better traffic flow. The parking will be in a lot off North Church Street, where the current city building and neighboring house now sit.
The plan also calls for a portion of Oak Street to be vacated. The western half of the street would be maintained for access from the parking lot. But the portion off of Main Street might be closed to allow for more public green space between the new city building and the library.
Meanwhile, the Wood County Committee on Aging is planning to vacate the old senior center building when its new facility is open in spring of 2021.
Funding for this project has been included in the 2021 utilities budget request, O’Connell said. The Electric Capital Reserve Fund includes $3.3 million and the Water & Sewer Capital Improvement Fund includes $2.2 million.
“We would like to move forward with the design of the City Administration Building project in early 2021 and construction to follow immediately after the design is complete,” O’Connell said.
Based on the city’s positive experience on the feasibility study with the consulting team of Poggemeyer Design Group and The Collaborative, the city recommended contracting with this same team for the design of the new building, O’Connell said. The cost of designing the building is estimated around $1 million.
O’Connell also requested the utilities board approve advertising for bids and awarding the construction contract for the work. The city will need to sell a bond to finance the project in early 2021 and it will be helpful to have board approval for the construction of the project prior to borrowing the funds, he said.
