Photo provided An artist’s rendering of the exterior of the planned new Department of Public Works facility on Arcadia Drive.
City officials unanimously approved a resolution to fund building improvements at the potential site of a new Department of Public Works facility.
The Columbus Redevelopment Commission on Monday gave sign off on upgrades to 1350 Arcadia Drive in an amount not to exceed $6.1 million.
The commission on May 20 voted to approve a purchase and sales agreement on the 20-acre property for $2.6 million plus an additional $25,000 to compensate for closing costs.
The matter will now head to the Columbus City Council, who will vote on whether to approve the purchase price for the property with closing costs, along with up to $6.1 million in building improvements during a meeting on Sept. 3, Director of Redevelopment Heather Pope said. The council is required to authorize any expenditure greater than $500,000.
Director of Public Works Bryan Burton and Force Design’s Karen Walker came before the board to talk about a schematic design for the facility and the estimated associated costs to make it a reality.
Burton said in May that his department had significantly outgrown capacity at the 3-acre facility at 740 S. Mapleton St. and has been in need of a new building for “at least 15 years.”
The new facility would be about three times bigger and have a maintenance area with 10 service bays, Burton told the commission. The facility would be able to house all of the department’s transit buses and would also have a storage barn, along with either an above-ground or below-ground fuel island.
The property is in the floodplain, but Walker said they would be able to fit everything the department would need on the land that is usable.
Included in Force Design’s cost estimate for building improvements are the new maintenance addition, covered storage, a wash building and a fuel island which would house two tanks and 12,000 gallons of fuel. The cost to retrofit the building in order to make it suitable for public works operations ranges from $5.9 million to $6.1 million, according to Force’s probable cost estimates.
The range in price depends on whether the fuel tanks would be above-ground or below-ground. Walker said there’s about a 50 percent cost increase for them to go below-ground.
There are additional compliance requirements for below-ground tanks, according to Burton.
“But I’d like to say, for aesthetics, underground looks better, and they’re not that big of a deal to stay in compliance with if you stay on top of it, and obviously we do,” Burton said.
“From my perspective, I think it would make sense to consider putting fuel tanks below ground, as (Bryan) mentioned it’s aesthetically better,” Redevelopment Commission President Al Roszczyk said. “I can’t imagine it not being safer being underground than above ground.”
Demolishing and rebuilding the existing facility would cost “$15 million to $20 million,” Burton said in May.
Council member Tom Dell, D-at-large, called the new facility “way overdue.”
“Bryan and his department touch so many people throughout the community, and he’s been doing it with a facility that really is inadequate,” Dell said. “ Not only for his own people, visitors that come in, the safety factor, the fact that he can’t keep equipment covered and uncovered, this is something that the city really needs, to move this thing forward.”
The current public works facility at 740 S. Mapleton St. is of interest to the redevelopment commission should it become vacant because it could potentially free up “other sites prime for affordable housing development in the upcoming years,” Pope said in May.
One such site is the former county highway garage at 2452 State St. that had been identified as ideal for future development, specifically for an affordable or workforce housing development, according to city officials.
Since county highway garage operations relocated in 2021 to a new facility, their use of the site is limited to storage and access to the existing salt barn.
Pope said Monday that conversations about redevelopment acquiring the former county highway garage are ongoing and that the commission may bring forward a letter of interest for the property at a later meeting.
