NEW CANAAN — Design plans totaling $1.2 million to revamp the police department headquarters were unanimously approved by the Board of Finance Tuesday.
This allotment comes after the project was already greenlit for $300,000 in study costs.
The $1.5 million total includes pre-construction fees including schematic designs, design development and construction documents created by Brian Humes of Jacunski Humes Architects. It also includes costs of the geotechnical engineer, owner’s representative, cost estimator and attorney fees to review the contracts.
This will help set the wheels in motion on the $28.5 million plan that calls for keeping much of the envelope of the current headquarters — a 96-year-old once-retrofitted school building — then knocking down the old addition in the back and replacing it with a new section. The present facility was deemed outdated by numerous town officials and lacks modern needs, such as adequate locker space for female officers, a simulated training area and computer equipment, police officials say.
The project is moving along as Town Engineer Joe Zagarenski shared the project time frame with the building committee last week. The schematic design phase will continue until late September or early October; design development will continue through the end of the year; and construction documents are expected to be completed in May 2023, he said.
It is expected to go out to bid in June 2023, with bids expected to come back a month later in July. Shovels are expected in the ground next fall, with construction is expected to take anywhere from 18 months to two years.
The police department building committee can’t oversee the whole process by itself, though.
Therefore, the committee are moving quickly to secure an owner’s representative. A construction industry expert, such as this, was used during the New Canaan High School renovation and the Saxe Middle School’s addition, according to building committee member Penny Rashin. The individual will represent the town’s interests, keep the process moving forward, settle disputes between project team members and may save the town money, said Rashin, who is also school board member.
“All of us are volunteers, so you need a pro to be running the project day to day,” Amy Murphy, a member of the building committee said. Requests for qualified candidates will be drafted and sent out soon, according to the committee members, and professionals who have worked on large projects in New Canaan before will be preferred.
During construction, police office functions will be moved into 39 Locust Ave., where the Board of Education is presently located. Next summer, school administrators will be moving to 220 Elm St., a site purchased by the town last year for $6.1 million.
Zagarenski said the timing meshes nicely for the offices since the Locust Avenue school administration is going to remain in the building until June and move during the summer school break, providing for a timely transition. While the lease was originally to be terminated in March, First Selectman Kevin Moynihan said he extended it for the police.
Officials have previously said that the town will likely share police dispatch and jail spaces with another area town.
Earlier discussions included plans for training area and firing range behind the police station on South Avenue, however, the committee has since decided to have it on a separate parcel of land.
The location of that area has yet to be determined, but the committee has narrowed the search down to just two choices after various studies. Zagarenski did not disclose where those land options were, but said that the town hopes to share the facility and the costs with other area towns and is waiting for plans to be put together for the firing range.
”We need to get a little bit of the due diligence done before we could even have a marketing package to present to other police departments to get them interested,” Zagarenski said.
