Less is More
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No Comments [ Add Comment ]By Bryon Saxton
Standard-Examiner Davis Bureau
bsaxton@standard.net
Syracuse to curb costs on city hall
SYRACUSE -- City officials are looking to dim the costs of the light fixtures and audiovisual equipment for the new $6.3 million city hall.
"It doesn't need to be fancy. It needs to be functional," Councilman Daniel Hammon said of the 26,000-square-foot city administrative offices under construction at 2000 W. 1900 South.
The council in a work meeting Tuesday discovered the current design of the new city hall has left them with only about $30,000 in contingency funds to cover any unexpected construction costs that may arise.
Council members said they are concerned that isn't enough working room, based on the size of the project and where it is in relation to completion.
City Treasurer LaMar Holt said he would recommend the city have $350,000 budgeted for contingency.
The city hall, just south of the county library, is part of an overall $10.5 million civic center package.
The project includes a public works shop
addition, remodeling the existing 7,500-square-foot city hall to accommodate the police department, and expanding the existing public safety building to make room for the fire department, officials said.
"It sounds like there is some room in there to trim," Hammon said of cost reductions that can be made to building fixtures, furnishings and equipment.
The council should look at re-evaluating the cost of the audiovisual system to be installed in the council chambers, Councilman Lurlen Knight said.
"It is definitely a nice system the way it is set up," said Brent Tippets of VCBO Architects, of Salt Lake City, the architects on the project.
Mayor Fred Panucci said he doesn't want to "skimp" on the audiovisual system in the chambers because that equipment is part of the building infrastructure and needs to be "plumbed" in advance.
The council may find savings with light fixtures and office furnishings where the new city hall building is being constructed to handle build-out, Panucci said.
"The project is sized for build-out. We will not have to furnish all the offices right now," he said.
Dollars can also be saved on light fixtures, Panucci said. "We don't need them fancy. But we do want them standardized," he said.
Having standardized light fixtures should also save costs in maintaining them, Panucci said. "We have to think long term," he said.
Tippets said the city could also experience savings by using different tile in covering the exterior of the building.
The majority of the civic center project is being funded by a $9.35 million bond approved in fall 2006 by the Syracuse Municipal Building Authority, which consists of city leaders.
The difference in construction costs and the approved bond will be made up using capital project funds and public safety impact fees, officials said.
The new civic center is projected to be complete by spring 2008.
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