Published: September 15, 2005 02:03 pm         

Land for courts facility to be ready by end of year

The land on which the Effingham County Government Center courts facility will sit should be bare by the end of this year, a county official said Wednesday.

Effingham County Board member Leonard Waldhoff, chairman of the board’s Buildings and Grounds Committee, said the upcoming demolition of three now-empty buildings will facilitate important preparatory work before construction can begin on the $9.7 million courts building next spring.

“We’ll have bare ground to start with,” Waldhoff said. “We’ll be able to complete soil samples and check for underground utilities.”

The Buildings and Grounds Committee voted to recommend the hiring of Sullivan contractor Courtice Bowman to develop a plan to remove asbestos from the vacant buildings before demolition. The full county board will consider the recommendation at its Monday meeting.

The committee made the recommendation with the stipulation that Bowman would charge no more than $10,000 for the design process of the demolition. The actual abatement and demolition is expected to cost close to $100,000.

Bowman said it would take two to three weeks to remove asbestos from the old buildings. Asbestos removal is important in this case because potentially harmful fibers can be emitted into the air during the demolition process.

Asbestos, long valued as a flame retardant, has been phased out of the building process since researchers determined the material as a potential source of health problems, including lung cancer.

Asbestos removal is expected to be completed sometime in November, followed by building demolition by the first of the year.

Also Wednesday, the committee recommended adoption of an updated building plan by the full board. Waldhoff said there are no significant changes between the plan considered Wednesday and the schematic designs approved by the full board earlier this year.

“It’s all pretty well as we’ve been talking about,” Waldhoff said. “It was just a matter of putting it on paper.”

If the board approves the plan recommended Wednesday, county departments to be housed in the new building will review the document and possibly suggest changes.

Waldhoff said additional tweaking may be necessary from a financial perspective as well, especially if the board wants to keep project costs under $10 million.

The current project estimate is $9.7 million, but Waldhoff said material cost increases may mean that figure won’t go as far.

“We are all fully aware that materials are going up in price,” Waldhoff said. “But we will have some options when the bidding process begins.”

Bids are expected to be accepted in February, with construction of the 62,588-square-foot building expected to begin shortly thereafter. The building is expected to be completed in the summer of 2007.

Also Wednesday, the Buildings and Grounds Committee approved three planning contracts with the Durrant Group — designers of the building — that were written into the original project estimate. If the full board approves the three contracts Monday, Durrant will begin planning where furniture will go in the building, as well as the placement of information and security systems. The full board tabled all three contracts at its August meeting.

Bill Grimes can be reached at 217-347-7151 ext. 132 or bgrimes@effinghamdailynews.com.