(This article, reprinted with permission, featuring the new police station, appeared in Bexley News on November 19, 2008)  1/2/09

City breaks ground on $5.4 million new station

By LAURA ENGLEHART

Nearly ten years after the conception of a new police station in Bexley, construction workers broke ground on the Delmar Drive site Monday, Nov. 17.

"This is something we’ve been talking about since 1997 and 1998. The police station is in such a state of disrepair that it’s just time," said Mayor John Brennan.

The 20,100 square-foot station will cost the city $5.4 million to construct and bears a completion date of Dec. 22, 2009, according to Dave King of Horne and King Architects who have worked to make the police station a reality since its inception.

Horne and King Architects began brainstorming in late 1999 with a variety of combinations that included a police and service department, a police department alone and others.

"We probably looked at ten different site combinations, one of which was the Delmar site, around 2002 and 2003. Ultimately, it was decided that we were focusing on police and how to provide for that," said King.

City administrators wrestled with whether to keep the police station in downtown Bexley or build it elsewhere, halting the project for two to three years.

King said discussion stopped and no action was taken about a year and a half ago until council decided the location of the station and how to fund it.

"There were a lot of intertwining factors to consider," said King.

"lf they decided to build a new station where the service center was, they needed a new location for the service center. Then they decided not to build a new service center before building a new police station. That meant that you couldn’t build the police station where the service center was."

Changes in the administration — a new mayor, city council members, and others - brought the station back to the drawing table, King said.

In late-April, city council authorized the purchase of a 1.64-acre tract of land at 2771 Delmar Drive for $320,000, securing a site on which to build the station and allowing architects to finish drawings.

Progress on the station snagged again when construction bids came in 10 percent higher than expected in early September and council members asked Horne and King Architects to cut costs where possible.

"There were a couple of minor things we deleted," said King.

"We did away with the epoxy floor in the holding cells that would have covered the cracks and splotches in the floor. It’s a fairly expensive project. We also made a change in how the building is heated and cooled, but still they're getting a very efficient system. Other than that we didn’t really do much."

The city bid a second time and accepted plans submitted by Thomas and Marker Construction for $5.4 million. City council members appropriated $850,000 toward construction on Oct. 14.

King said the design and construction of the station will consider sustainable materials, energy efficiency and sophisticated systems to attain recognition from the United States Green Building Council through the Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design program.

According to King, a building receives points for certain aspects of a project, such as installing bike racks to allow employees to bike to work or hauling construction materials to the site within a 500-mile radius to keep transportation costs down.

"There’s a whole variety of things that come into play," said King.

"lt's how you manage construction debris. You don’t throw it all in a landfill. You sort it out — break up old concrete and reuse it or take it to a recycle location. It’s about the use of materials. New materials like carpet and paint should have a high recycled material content. You use sustainable materials — woods that you can regenerate — instead of cutting a whole forest down that can’t be replaced. You also make sure the building is economical to run. That's all about insulation and sophisticated systems."

The new station is expected to reach high silver status of the three levels of recognition — silver, gold and platinum.

King said mechanical engineers from Heapy Engineering are taking the initiative on the LEED project, making sure not to chase points or spend money unnecessarily.

"We’re not going to have any rooftop solar panels because the return on the investment would take a long time," said King. "We have to evaluate the project itself to determine where to get points."

King said one of the ways the station will receive points is by lighting the American flag from the top down, rather than from the bottom up to cut down on light pollution.

Now that construction is underway for the police station, city council members will have to decide what to do with the old station location. Council members have talked about renovating the station inexpensively and turning it into a multi-purpose meeting space with public restrooms and a public lobby, King said.

"We’ve done some sketches. They know what the opportunities are," he said.

 

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