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Centre Daily Times March 18 2005
Contracts awarded for bank building
County hands out $1.63 million for M&T renovations
By Lara Brenckle; lbrenckl@centredaily.com
"Centre County commissioners awarded $1.63 million worth of contracts for the renovation of a former bank building into a courthouse annex Thursday, but not before one commissioner demanded justification of the project's cost.
The $1.1 million general construction contract was awarded to G.M. McCrossin, of Bellefonte. Commissioners said McCrossin was not the lowest bidder but was the lowest bidder that met the county's specifications for the project.
Project architect Alan Popovich said renovations of the first and second floors of the former M&T Bank building on Allegheny Street should be substantially completed by Nov. 15, with the third floor slated to be finished by Feb. 15.
The building will become an annex to the county courthouse, providing courtroom and office space for the addition of a fourth county judge, who will be elected in November and will take office in January.
Commissioner Scott Conklin, a Democrat, voted with the two Republican commissioners to award the contracts, but he noted that the county last year had its architect come up with cost scenarios for constructing a new building on one or two county-owned lots on North Penn and High streets.
The work was done in April 2004, after the county rejected the idea of paying $295,000 for the historic M&T Bank building but before it agreed to pay $240,000 for the building.
The architect's documents, which Conklin provided to the Centre Daily Times, show scenarios ranging from a $2.7 million project to build a 21,000-square-foot office building with a surface parking lot to $6.6 million for a 47,775-square-foot building with underground parking decks. The price per square foot for those options was estimated at $120.
Those estimates don't include soft costs, such as furniture. And increases in the past year in the costs of construction materials could add $30 to $50 per square foot to the cost, Conklin said.
When Conklin asked if the price for the bank building, which he said is pushing $300 a square foot for just 9,500 square feet of usable space, was worthwhile, board Chairman Chris Exarchos chastised him.
"First of all, let me ask this," Exarchos said. "This started a year ago. There was ample opportunity to raise these issues before waiting until the last minute."
When Conklin broached the subject of total project cost, which he said would be about $2.7 million once soft costs are figured in, Exarchos again stopped him.
"Let's be careful with the numbers," he said. "Right now, we have $1.6, $1.7 (million), but nowhere near $2.7 or $2.8 (million). We went around and around, and I assumed there was consensus to move forward. In the end, personally, I believe this is a good value for the citizens of Centre County."
Exarchos said the costs are in line with other historic restoration projects in the area, such as the renovation of the State Theatre in State College. He noted the historical significance of the M&T building. He also said that time to prepare space for a fourth judge is running short.
Conklin said that regardless of the outcome of Thursday's vote, commissioners should look at ways to address other concerns about lack of county office space.
The county, he said, has about $2 million left over from the bond issue it took out to pay for its new prison, plus an extra $4.5 million in the budget for payment of debts. The county should use that money to solve the space crunch, Conklin said.
Exarchos called his comments "disingenuous," saying one of the first things this board did when it took office was contact the county planning department and begin researching the space concern.
"This board saved a million of that $2 million you are talking about," he noted, "by negotiating with Bellefonte borough about construction of the water main (to serve the new prison)."
Conklin later said he was sorry if his colleagues felt any animosity from him.
"It is just that any time we go above general market costs on a project, we should be able to justify it," he said."
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