Elsmere is getting a new public works building.
“This is long overdue for the city,” said Mayor Marty Lenhof.
The Elsmere City Council unanimously approved the design contract and proposed budget of $6.4 million for the project, intended to house all public works offices and vehicles under one roof at 717 Bedinger St. next to Woodside Park, in July. SHP Architecture and Design is heading up the design process.
Lenhof noted that some trucks in the department’s fleet are incapable of getting into the current facility on Ash Street.
“You have the current site and the combination of a couple of out buildings, if you will,” said SHP Director of Development Steve Kenat in July. “They’re constantly playing jumble tag with various pieces of equipment.”
LINK nky obtained early design renderings and drawings of the new building through a public records request. The designs are conceptual: Lenhof noted that the overall size and layout of the building may change as the project progresses, but the designs give an overview of what the final project may look like. Early projections put the facility’s footprint at roughly 23,000 square feet.
“Years ago, we we bought a trailer park that was up there (at Woodside Park),” said Lenhof. “We were going to expand the park, but we hit trouble finding a location for this project. So, we’re going to actually put it on that site there.”
Currently the site houses the city’s salt barn, which holds about 90 tons of salt.
The city recently put out advertisements for construction managers. Once the planning and bidding process for the whole project is complete, it should take about year to construct the building, according to city documents.
You can view the complete preliminary design documents produced by SHP below.
Astrid Coste contributed reporting to this news brief.
