Credit: Tom Sofield/LevittownNow.com
Several years after a plan to construct a new building fell apart, Falls Township is now seeking to renovate their aging municipal complex.
The Falls Township Board of Supervisors voted Tuesday evening to hire Grace Construction to be the project manager for the planned revamp of the 60,000-square-foot building at 188 Lincoln Highway. The complex houses the township’s departments, including police and public works, and several private businesses.
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Falls Township Supervisors Chairman Jeff Dence said the building is aging, outdated, and a bit of a maze.
“There’s been a lot of patch work over the years and never a true design of a municipal building,” Dence said.
The overhaul is intended to create a space “more suitable for an office environment,” Dence said.
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Grace Construction Director of Development Steve Eigenrauch said design and preconstruction will take about eight months, with further time needed for actual construction and final touches.
Eigenrauch said the project is expected to be done in about 22 months.
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Eigenrauch assured the supervisors his firm will make sure the renovation will transform the building for municipal use, which was not the use structure was built for years ago.
The cost of the renovation is still unknown and Grace Construction will help get bids, but the management firm will earn $585,000 for their work during the course of the project.
Grace Construction will provide a full-time project manager, estimator, field supervisor, and project engineer to the township.
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“We’re the eyes and ears of the township,” Eigenrauch said of his company’s role in coordinating the facility.
Supervisors Vice Chairman Jeff Boraski and Supervisor Erin Mullen were on a committee that talked with several construction management company as the township sought a construction project management firm.
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“We need a company that can help us and put our feet in front of each other,” Boraski said. “We can’t do that work.”
The supervisors have encouraged the project management team to seek out efficiencies and energy savings in the renovation design.
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The township approved construction of a new 55,174-square-foot municipal center next to the existing building in 2016, but higher-than-expected cost estimates tanked the plan.
“The cost was so high we went away from that project,” Dence said.
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The existing Falls Township Complex has been in use for decades, but was not originally designed to serve a municipality.
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