A safety fence has been placed around the former Elks Lodge building on North Sandusky Street in Delaware, signifying the start of the construction process for the proposed Delaware County judicial building.
According to Jon Melvin, Delaware County manager of facilities, the first stage of the project will include asbestos abatement and demolition of the building. He said site excavation is scheduled to begin in November. The estimated completion date for the entire project is the end of June 2017.
When completed, the $32 million facility will feature a three-story, approximately 82,000-square foot office building, seated on top of a two-level parking garage. The upper two floors of the office building will be dedicated for use by Delaware County Common Pleas Court.
Melvin said the lower level of parking will be accessible from the county parking lot along North Union Street, while the second level will be accessible from the alley adjacent to Terra Nova Community Church. He said a third area of parking will be accessible from North Sandusky Street. There will be a total of 155 new parking spaces.
On Oct. 26, county commissioners approved the first Guaranteed Maximum Price Amendment for the project between the county and Lend Lease (US) Construction Inc., of Columbus, which is serving as the construction manager. The amount of the contract for this first phase of the project is not exceed $3,490,809.
Melvin said Silling Architects Inc., of Charleston, W.Va., is the lead firm for the project. He said Silling delivered detailed designs to Lend Lease (US) Construction on Oct. 26 to allow the contractor to determine material pricing. Complete construction documents will be completed in December.
Melvin said the new judicial building has been designed with future growth in mind.
“The actual footprint of the office building doesn’t encompass the whole footprint of the parking structure,” he noted. “That way there’s room to expand in the future. (County officials) are already planning and developing how to expand and add another roughly 20,000 to 30,000 square feet of office space to the building.”
