City Hall expansion ahead of schedule

Dan Kulin

Tuesday, April 29, 2003 | 9:34 a.m.

The new five-story building that is the largest piece of Henderson's $72.3 million City Hall expansion is six months ahead of schedule and should be open to the public in mid-July, the city's construction manager said.

The opening of the $41.8 million building will mark the start of the next phase of construction, with departments leaving the existing City Hall so the older building can be renovated.

With the moves, the public will find some of the most-used services on the first floor of the new building.

"It will be a one-stop shop for (building) permits," said John Simmons, city Public Works Department construction manager.

Councilwoman Amanda Cyphers said the result will be a "more customer- friendly City Hall."

"You'll walk in and be able to see all the departments right there," she said.

The latest cost estimate for the new building, $41.8 million, includes $800,000 for wiring the building for all phones and computers. Simmons said that work was not included in the original construction contract so the latest technology could be purchased.

Earlier estimates had the cost for the 220,000-square-foot building at $39.5 million.

Dry winter weather meant no weather-related delays and helped get the project ahead of schedule, said Rick Cooley, the on-site construction manager for Harris & Associates, the company that was hired to oversee the day-to-day operations and inspections on the project.

Simmons said the fast pace of construction is partly due to the requirement that the general contractor on the project, the Dick Corp. of Pittsburgh, handle at least 15 percent of the work itself.

Since Jan. 21, 2002 between 120 and 150 workers have been busy building the addition. The Dick Corp. has until Sept. 23, 2004, to finish the project, including renovating the existing City Hall building.

With construction six months ahead of schedule, city staff are expected to begin moving into the new building on July 17. The move should take about a month, Cooley said.

The total $72.3 million project includes the large new building and renovation of the existing City Hall building, plus the cost of architectural and design work, and new furniture and other equipment.

The $1.6 million renovation of the existing City Hall is expected to take seven months. During that time City Council meetings will be held at the Henderson Convention Center. Planned renovations include expanding the Council Chambers to add another 80 seats for the audience.

When finished, the addition and renovated building will have enough office space for 725 city employees. The existing City Hall was designed for up to 193 employees, but an additional 300 city staff members now work out of the building.

The overall speed of the project stands in contrast to the $7.5 million six-level parking garage attached to the large new building. The parking garage opened about a year ago, but it was almost four months behind schedule.

Simmons said "there was no good reason" for the late finish.

Earlier this month, the City Council agreed to accept a $420,000 settlement for damages associated with the missed deadline.