Date: Fri 18-Apr-1997

Publication: Bee

Author: STEVEB

Quick Words:

selectmen-office-space-study

Full Text:

Town Seeks A Firm To Address The Need For Office Space

B Y S TEVE B IGHAM

The town is looking for an architectural firm to study the town's space needs

now and into the future. The Board of Selectmen recently authorized First

Selectman Bob Cascella to search for a firm.

It has been two months since a local space needs advisory committee

recommended to the Board of Selectmen that some offices be moved to Watertown

Hall, a 32,000-square-foot building that the state has offered to the town.

Last fall, First Selectman Bob Cascella created the five-person search

committee to investigate possible sites for the relocation of some town

employees.

Town Hall South was evacuated in February due to flooding and general

deterioration of the building. The town employees who worked there are now

temporarily stationed at Canaan House on the campus of Fairfield Hills. At

Edmond Town Hall, employees are working in cramped conditions, with the

finance department in the basement and social services in the attic.

The Board of Selectmen is looking for an in-depth space needs study that would

recommend ways to alleviate the office space crunch.

The consultant would be assigned to review the space needs report prepared by

the Municipal Space needs Advisory Committee, verify current conditions and

renovation requirements (including parking), appropriate spatial and working

relationships among agencies and departments, and project future space

requirements.

The architect would also analyze the options for adding on to the current

Edmond Town Hall, Town Hall South, and the utilization of buildings or

property at Fairfield Hills. The architect would also study the possibility of

reallocating space within the existing town hall.

If no options within the existing sites meet current and projected space

needs, the Board of Selectmen wants the architect to:

Consider and recommend which town agencies might best be relocated off-site.

Conduct a site/building selection search, with particular attention to the

center of town.

Recommend proper space allocations within any off-site options for

administrative offices required by the town.

Recommend renovation requirements and cost estimate.

As requested by Selectman Gary Fetzer, the architect will take cost

effectiveness into consideration on all recommendations.