Construction continues on the new city building.
J.D. Pooley | Sentinel-Tribune
The City of Bowling Green is hoping to occupy its new administration building by the end of July 2023. However, the final cost of the project is still being determined.
Council met as a committee of the whole to receive an update on the ongoing project last week.
“The progress is clear,” said Mayor Mike Aspacher as he addressed council. “Like you, we’ve been monitoring the progress and we’re really excited about the potential for the new building. When we first began this process back in October, November of 2020, we had indicated to council that we would update you as we reached milestone points during the process.
“Well, we are at such a milestone,” he said, adding that they are through the schematic design phase and design development stage, and the contractor, Moser, is receiving bids for interior work such as mechanical, plumbing and others.
“Things are going to start moving very rapidly,” Aspacher said, noting that the structure will “be enclosed and under roof before the snow flies. Knocking on wood, here.”
Ray Micham and Justin Fogle of the design firm the Collaborative reviewed the history of the project with council, and also discussed the plans for the exterior and interior of the new building.
Micham noted the laundry list of maintenance issues with the current administration building at 304 N. Church St.
“The building is really near the end of its useful life and it’s an old elementary school, so not terribly conducive to the kind of program that you need in a new administration building,” Micham said.
The building is going to be demolished as part of the project.
The former senior center at 305 N. Main St. also had “a lot of legacy issues,” said Micham, but also had a historical stone facade, which is being retained in the construction of the new building.
He called the facade “wonderful” and “hard to replicate in today’s age.”
Micham noted the facade does need some stone repair, and that the old “post office” signage is to be changed to say City of Bowling Green.
Fogle said that the new, two-story administration building is designed around a central lobby space that connects to council chambers, which will be located within an area enclosed partially by the stone facade.
Off of the lobby will be a series of office suites for major departments such as utilities, the tax office, engineering, public works and planning. On the second floor will be the mayor’s office and administrative offices, as well as human resources, finance, IT and other departments.
“What we’re really trying to do is improve visibility throughout, but maintain some privacy,” Fogle said. “Each specific department has their own welcome desk for the public to come into and interact.”
Micham said that safety is an important focus in the building, with secure means for council to enter and exit the building and, in case of emergency, for staff to leave through back or side exits.
A virtual tour of the exterior and interior of the structure was provided.
“We think that this, and the building as it’s going to be constructed, really does achieve … all of our goals that we identified at the beginning of this process,” Aspacher said.
He said that all of the city departments that citizens interact with on a daily basis will be accessible on the main level. They are investing in modern technology and collaborative work spaces for employees.
“This building is going to be efficient. We’re investing in highly-efficient mechanical and electrical systems,” Aspacher said, adding that sustainable design concepts have been implemented as appropriate.
“We’re very excited about the progress and how this building is going to serve the public for decades to come,” Aspacher said.
They are continuing to work to determine the final cost of the building. The initial estimate for the project was approximately $11 million.
However, “as you can imagine, we have not been immune to market conditions that have been prevalent in the economy recently,” such as inflation and supply chain issues, as well as unforeseen issues with the site condition.
Aspacher said that the budget has increased, but that they are very close to identifying what will be the total cost of the building, and they are developing a strategy to cover the cost that will be shared with council soon.
Councilman Greg Robinette asked Aspacher if anything from the current administration building would be saved for use in the new construction.
“Right now we’re looking at it from a functional standpoint,” Aspacher said.
They’re “looking for opportunities to repurpose some of that equipment… but for the most part there’s not going to be a lot.”
Answering another question from Robinette, Aspacher said that they have discussed the potential for a historic marker for the site, but it’s not certain what form that might take.
