New City Hall Construction Updates
Published on January 27, 2022
December 2022
Construction continues on the new City Hall as the project gets closer to completion. We wanted to provide you a quick update on construction progress, opening and public items of interest.
When is the New City Hall expected to be completed?
The new City Hall is expected to be completed in late December/early January, with approximately 90 employees occupying the spaces in January.
Is there a date yet for a ribbon cutting or grand opening?
The City is planning a public grand opening/ribbon-cutting event for late January, including light refreshments, entertainment, and building tours. We look forward to opening the doors to this new City Hall, showcasing the importance of having an efficient, centralized work environment for employees, residents, and public community spaces for gatherings and meetings.
The building seems to be taking longer than originally planned. What has created the delays?Labor shortages, supply chain issues, and material shortages have impacted the completion date and have put a strain on some of the subcontractors locked into the pre-COVID, pre-inflationary pricing. Long-lead materials and equipment delays have required the City, architects and Manhattan to collaborate in finding solutions to keep moving forward.
How have these delays and inflationary costs impacted the budget?
The $22.8 million budget has NOT changed since the project was bid as this was a hard bid project. This means that the City would pay a guaranteed maximum price for delivery of the completed City Hall as designed and constructed. This maximum price was determined and included in the agreement between the City and the contractor Manhattan Construction.
This has been beneficial for the City in terms of holding to the budgeted construction allocation but very challenging to the project timeline and for the contractors and subcontractors. The subcontractors that have bid and signed agreements are held at the pricing which was developed and incorporated into the agreement between the City and Manhattan Construction in 2021. The building is primarily funded by the Penny for Pinellas Fund (sales tax) with additional contributions from other enterprise and revenue funds such as Building, CRA, and Utilities. The budget breakdown is listed on the financing sheet included in the 2021 presentation (slide 14):
City Hall Update Powerpoint
City Hall Project Bid Announcement
What, if any, major changes have been made to the project?
Outside of some minor design tweaks, the building design/plans selected by the community through a series of public input meetings, and approved by the City Commission, have remained consistent. The addition of more rooftop solar panels has been the biggest significant change to ensure we create a sustainable and efficient building.
What work is underway now?
Interior finishing is underway, including installing the flooring, light fixtures, millwork and cabinetry, restroom fixtures and tiling, completion of the IT infrastructure, doors and locks, and other electrical items.
Exterior work also continues, with the site grading just about complete. The parking lot is scheduled to receive asphalt in December, followed by curbing, striping, and landscaping. The paving around the building will be completed in December, as well as the exterior lighting.
On December 12 and 13th, the 26-foot public art piece “The See” will be installed by world-renowned artist Heath Satow. A public art dedication is planned for December 15th at 10:00 a.m.
New Public Parking Lot and Parking Spaces
When completed there will be an estimated 203 parking spaces on the new surface lot, including 198 standard parking spaces and eight handicap spaces. Surrounding the City Hall building, there are an additional 20 standard parking spaces and seven handicap spaces. The lot will be landscaped per code with shade trees, ornamental trees and palms, and plantings to incorporate the new construction into the landscape fully.
September 2022
You have probably been wondering what is happening with the new City Hall parking lot and all the dirt being moved and excavated. The new City Hall Construction site, incorporating both the building and the surface parking lot at Virginia and Highland, required an Environmental Resource Permit from the Southwest Florida Water Management District (SWFWMD) as part of this project.
The purpose of the permit is to ensure sufficient drainage capacity in consideration of impervious surfaces or surfaces that do not permit water to percolate through them, such as concrete, pavers, or asphalt. The permit, and drainage design, address both attenuation (the offset of water volume) and water quality.
In a traditional system, drainage may be handled through a retention or detention pond. In urban areas where land for traditional systems is unavailable, alternative Best Management Practices (BMP) designs are utilized. This is the case for the City Hall site and parking lot, which was designed to address stormwater runoff/drainage through an underground vault system (See sample illustration).
Vaults are often a cheaper and more efficient systems than utilizing perforated pipes. However, both systems work the same, capturing surface runoff and transporting water underground through a series of vaults where the water ultimately bleeds into the soils. The system is designed to capture the initial surface water due to a rainstorm or other events with excess volumes overflowing into the City system.
This design was chosen as the City wanted to maintain and increase the number of parking spaces on both the building site and the parking area. Utilizing a surface detention or retention system would have removed highly desirable parking spaces. The underground vault system work has been completed as part of the required parking lot infrastructure, paving the way for the remaining lot and site improvements.
Similarly, the City has used this same system in the parking area along the Pinellas trail nearby the old train station. This system is designed to manage stormwater runoff, handle the excess water that can be attributed to flooding conditions and reduce erosion into our local waterways.
Altogether, there will be an estimated 203 parking spaces on the new surface lot, including 198 standard parking spaces and eight handicap spaces. Surrounding the City Hall building, there are an additional 20 standard parking spaces and seven handicap spaces. The lot will be landscaped per code with shade trees, ornamental trees and palms, and plantings to incorporate the new construction into the landscape fully. While the construction project overall has experienced some delays due to supply chain issues and labor challenges, we look forward to completing the surface lot this fall and making it available for our residents, businesses, and visitors.