Sign up for one of our email newsletters.
Updated 3 hours ago
Construction will start in the coming weeks on new digs that consolidate Penn Hills police, fire and municipal offices on 15.9 acres at the former Penn Hebron school on Duff Road, municipal officials said.
Bids for the $12.3 million project were received Jan. 4. Council picked Walter Mucci Construction Co. of Perryopolis as general contractor for the project. Mucci's bid of $7,871,020 was the lowest of 10 companies.
“We were very, very pleased that the bids came in so close. That's unusual of a $12 million dollar project,” said Mayor Sara Kuhn.
Other contracts awarded Feb. 6 for the project include:
• $1.3 million to East West Manufacturing of Castle Shannon for installing mechanical systems.
• $1 million to Wheels Mechanical Contracting and Supplier of Elrama, Washington County, for plumbing and fire protection.
• $1.3 million to Bronder Technical Services of Prospect for electrical work.
• $178,152 to Horizon Information Services of Glenshaw for installing security systems.
• $134,000 to Horizon Information Services for installing low voltage wiring.
• $199,000 to Horizon Information Services for audio/visual systems.
• $232,409 to Work Space Solutions of Pittsburgh for delivering and installing furniture.
“The building is progressing exactly how we were hoping. We're right where we want to be when it's time to break ground,” said Kuhn.
The municipality received its loan for the project in November. It carries a 2.5 percent average interest rate and is expected to be paid off by 2027 without raising taxes, Municipal Manager Mohammed Rayan said.
The project includes a 43,200-square-foot municipal and police building, a 9,000-square-foot emergency services building, two 30-foot-wide driveways and 165 parking spots, according to architectural designs done by Gateway Engineers of Pittsburgh.
In addition, the municipality will use a $1 million state grant it received in October to include a firing range for police, an emergency responders training room and a firefighters training site.
“It put us right on the budget of what we were anticipating,” Kuhn said about the amenities being funded by the Redevelopment Assistance Capital Program grant.
The municipality bought the property from Penn Hills School District in May 2015 for $250,000.
Penn Hills officials decided to go forward with the project after deciding against renovating its much smaller and aging municipal building on Frankstown Road. No decision about that building's future has been made.
The new building is expected to be completed by summer 2018.
It will offer state-of-the art “green” technology and modern working accommodations for municipal employees, officials said.
“A green building is a better structure for us. In this day in age, it would be a bad choice for us to build and not be green,” Kuhn said.
Samson X Horne is a staff writer for the Tribune-Review. Reach him at 412-871-2325 or shorne@tribweb.com.
Our editors found this article on this site using Google and regenerated it for our readers.
