As the city’s public safety officials still ponder the placement, cost and construction schedule of a proposed new public safety facility, another meeting with LaBella Associates and BBL Construction is scheduled for Wednesday, June 6, to hash out the details.
Representatives from consultants LaBella and BBL recently reported to the City Council that a full renovation of City Hall to continue to house police and courts could cost $18.7 million; a new building at HiRoc bowling alley or the formerly contaminated National Grid site on Excelsior Avenue could cost $21.8 million; and a new building downtown could cost $24.5 million.
Kevin Marron, of Labella Associates, said the committee looked at six sites for the EMS facility in geographic proximity to one another and the city, taking into account wetland areas and utility limitations.
The possible downtown sites are the Woodlawn Avenue parking lot; the county building on Woodlawn; the Algonquin Building parking lot; and the parking lot between High Rock Avenue and Maple Avenue off Lake Avenue.
Deputy Safety Commissioner Frank Dudla said the cost of the facility would be dependent on a number of variables.
It’s going to depend on acquisition, No. 1, he said. `If we decide on a property we don’t own, obviously there will have to be negotiation.`
A separate east side facility would cost about $4.3 million in 2008, but estimated construction costs are expected to rise nine percent per year.
The Public Safety Capital Construction Committee presented possibilities for a new public safety building and Eastern Plateau EMS/fire station at a recent City Council meeting.
`If the police station were a private business, my code enforcers would have shut them down,` said Public Safety Commissioner Ron Kim. The building was constructed in 1850 and housed five police officers. There are now 70 officers.
David Wall, of BBL, said the estimates the company gave the council were for the complete costs of the project, including furniture and equipment, `not just the bricks and mortar.` He cited his company’s restoration of the state Court of Appeals building in Albany ` an historic, entire restoration ` that cost $452 per square foot at 80,000 square feet. He compared this to renovating City Hall to suit the Public Safety Capital Construction Committee’s needs and estimated the cost to be $325 per square foot. A 5,000 square-foot addition for vertical access also would be required. It would be a multi-phased, two-year project estimated to cost $18.7 million.
One main point of concern in City Hall is the way the police station and courthouse are configured. Inmates must be transported up a stairwell that is also traveled by city workers and the public.
Dudla said there have been incidents on the stairwell involving inmates. Some have concerned the welfare of the inmate, others the welfare of those working in City Hall. He recalled an incident within the past year in which an inmate being transported on the stairwell suffered an epileptic seizure and fell down the stairs. At other times, he said, inmates have kicked, screamed, and wrestled with law-enforcement officers as they have been transported.
`I thought one inmate was coming right through my window one day,` said Dudla. `So the potential is there, yes.`
The second issue of great concern is the emergency response time to the eastern plateau. In 1980, there were 778 homes in that area and in 2000, which number reached 2,400. Kim said that with full build-out there could be 900 more homes. Kim said the city should be responding to an emergency within five minutes, and in 2002, about 13 percent of the calls were responded to within six minutes or less. In 2003, however, the response time increased to 51 percent where it took more than 6 minutes. “