The Haines Borough is one step closer to a design for a new Public Safety Building. Last week, Bettisworth North Architects, Inc., the company contracted to plan and design the new building, submitted a list of potential design options, as well as a comprehensive list of spaces that could be included in the building and preliminary findings from a site assessment.
“We’re looking at several different options for what the project might be—build a brand-new building, but we’re also looking at options like purchasing the Floreske building and remodeling it, remodeling the existing building, and the possibility of remodeling the existing building and adding to it,” borough public facilities director Ed Coffland said. He said there’s also a possibility that the departments housed in the current building could occupy two different facilities in the future.
In a document included in Tuesday’s assembly packet, Bettisworth North breaks down cost estimates for each of the options and lists potential considerations.
The cheapest options include remodeling the existing building for $8.75 million and remodeling the Floreske building, at the corner of Haines Highway and Sawmill Road, for $4.61 million. Drawbacks to these plans include the fact that the Floreske building doesn’t have enough space to house both the fire and police departments, and the current Public Safety Building has a sinking foundation, is in a tsunami zone, would require demolition down to the framing to abate hazardous materials, requires an electrical system upgrade and is a very tight fit for both departments.
Other options range in pricing from $19.41 million to $21.47 million. The document lists two “optimal” possibilities: building a new public safety building on undeveloped property to the south of the current facility and abandoning the current one ($19.41 million), and building a new building on the existing site and demolishing the existing one ($19.75 million). In both cases, the new buildings would be able to house all facilities for the volunteer fire department, police department, dispatch, morgue, assembly chambers, public facilities and records storage.
Coffland said Bettisworth North conducted interviews with stakeholders from the various borough departments to compile a list of spaces the new facility could include. The list ranges from assembly chambers to detention holding cells to a personal fitness room.
Bettisworth North has also conducted a “site investigation,” digging a series of test pits at the site of the current building and on the undeveloped lot to the south. Soil layers were similar at the two sites with 2-3 feet of organic matter over a thin layer of sand, on top of silt.
“Collected soil samples are currently undergoing testing,” the Bettisworth North report in the assembly packet reads. The tests will provide information about “the compressibility of the silt/clay layer over the long-term,” which will give the company a better sense of the cost to minimize the risk of settlement.
Coffland said the next step for the borough will be selecting a plan to flesh-out in greater detail.
Last fall, Bettisworth North was awarded a contract not to exceed $338,167 to plan and design a new Public Safety Building as part of the assembly’s ongoing quest to bring the project to a “shovel-ready” stage. In past interviews, Coffland had estimated the total cost of a new building would be somewhere around $20 million. At the time the contract was awarded, Bettisworth North principal Roy Rountree said the company plans to solicit community input throughout the design process.
The contract specifies that Bettisworth North must complete work by Dec. 31, 2021.