SCHEDULED COMPLETION DATE LISTED BY CITY
Haven’t driven along Marshall Road in Platte City recently? Then you may be surprised next time you do.
If you look a short distance beyond the frontage at 224-228 Marshall, you’ll notice a new building is coming to life at a construction site.
Rising above ground level is the new City Hall for Platte City. It will house administrative offices and the city’s police department.
The new City Hall is currently scheduled to be completed in mid-March. Cost per the current contract with Royal Construction Services is a little more than $5.93 million.
The current price is an increase of $32,000 from the original contract, with that increase largely related to an additional retaining wall to reduce erosion/run-off toward adjacent properties down the hill from the project.
Platte City purchased the property from Carl Myers, BKJ, Inc. and Carl Myers dba Platte Professional and Dental Building back in December of 2020 at a cost of $800,000.
The purchase consisted of three adjacent parcels totaling 4.2 acres located at 224-228 Marshall Road. Included were two existing buildings, including a former medical clinic which was demolished by the city in advance of the construction of the new city facility.
A second building, a former pharmacy, was originally planned by the city to be renovated for use as a council chambers. But DJ Gehrt, city administrator, says that plan has changed.
“Very early in the design process it became clear that the cost to renovate the former pharmacy building was very similar to the per square foot cost of new construction because the location of the load bearing components of the building were not compatible with the ability to construct a larger open space needed for the board room,” Gehrt told The Landmark this week.
As a result, the new City Hall building was designed as a two story, with a main level and walkout lower level for the police department and city administration, plus a slab on grade council chambers included on the southeast end of the building.
Gehrt said this change resulted in a new building of 15,900 sq. ft., with 9,000 sq. ft. on the main level, including the slab on grade council chambers, and 6,000 sq. ft. in the walkout lower level.
The city approved the architectural design in October 2021, posted a public call for bids in November 2021 and awarded the construction contract to the low bidder, Royal Construction Services in December 2021 in the amount of $5,904,000.
The contract resulted in a construction cost of $371/sq. ft., nearly $100 per sq. ft. higher than estimated in the spring of 2020, as COVID influenced material and construction costs in a negative way.
Gehrt said primary funding for the project is the $3.2 million general obligation bond issue which was approved to construct a police station/City Hall. That bond was on the ballot and approved by voters in April 2018.
“Those bonds were actually issued in 2021 during the final design phase of the project. The bonds have a 20 year term and will be paid off in 2041,” Gehrt remarked, adding that the funding source for the annual bond payments is the city’s general obligation property tax levy.
ADJUSTED USE FOR THE
OLD PHARMACY BUILDING
So what is the adjusted plan for the old pharmacy building that remains standing at the front of the site?
Gehrt said the plan for that building “remains very flexible and is likely to change over the next several years.”
The current plan, he said, is to use at least one floor for storage and issuing of recreation equipment. There are no set long term plans for the building.
Gehrt is set to retire in effective July 1, and the turnover plan as the city shifts to a new city administrator will include a recommendation from Gehrt that the city consider creating an open public space in place of the building to allow for a circular traffic pattern and more open public space in front of the police department/City Hall building.
In addition to an improved traffic pattern, Gehrt said this recommendation “would provide for outdoor event space that the city does not currently possess.”
Archives will be located in the new City Hall in a purpose built archive room, which will be fire resistant and include a security system, the city administrator explained.
Gehrt said the city’s need for a large physical archive storage facility continues to decrease as current documents are archived electronically. He said the city has scanned and digitized several tons of paper archives over the past five years.