AMERICAN FORK -- A request for proposals has gone out to potential design-build teams for the construction of city center buildings and the remodeling of existing city buildings.
A design-build team includes both architectural and general contractor services.The center will include a city hall, courts and public safety building, which would house police, fire and ambulance departments, and a cultural arts building, city administrator Carl Wanlass said. Wanlass envisions the current city hall, a historic building built in 1904, housing the Chamber of Commerce, Daughters of Utah Pioneers and city planning and engineering departments.
The new city center would encompass about 4.5 acres from Center Street to 100 East.
However, designers will have to figure out how to design around two buildings in the city center block that it doesn't own. One is the vacant, nearly century-old Harrington School building facing Church Street, and the other is a commercial building facing Merchant Street. Both are owned by Carl Bell, a local pediatrician, and he isn't selling, Wanlass said.
An attempt to take the buildings by eminent domain in 1995 failed, and the city has no interest in pursuing it again, Mayor Ted Barrett said. After that attempt, the city purchased much of the school building's parking lot from Bell for more than $220,000. Bell then sued the city for $3.4 million, claiming it defamed him during the unsuccessful eminent domain effort.
The suit wasn't served until after the parking lot sale was completed, said city attorney Kevin Bennett. That suit was eventually thrown out but is now under appeal at the 10th Circuit Court of Appeals in Denver.
"We'd still like to get the Bell property. It would be a nice addition," Wanlass said.
Bell said the city hasn't approached him lately to buy the buildings. He said that would "take some negotiation" and would depend on the outcome of the latest lawsuit. The city hasn't approached Bell because of "strained relationships," Barrett said.
"We do need that building very badly," he said of the old school building. But the city can't pay market value -- purported to range from $300,000 to $400,000 -- because of the cost of fixing it up and meeting government guidelines.
"We will have to put a tremendous amount into the building. We could never afford it," Barrett said.
Current plans for the rest of the property include upgrading the city hall building to current building standards, then building a new city hall that will include administrative offices and council chambers that would allow the staff to grow from its present 12 to 40, according to the instructions given potential design-build teams.
Of the approximate 20,000-square-foot building, only about 14,000 square feet would be finished now and the rest held for expansion through 2020. The present building measures 6,912 square feet, not including temporary trailers for additional office space.
Plans also call for a new civic cultural center for musical, theatrical and art performances. Also planned for construction is a new public safety building that would include space for the 4th District Court. The structure is designed to meet the city's needs until 2020.
Other buildings that face the wrecking ball include a former Alpine School District warehouse now housing the city library and four houses the city recently purchased. The project could cost as much as $15 million.
Wanlass is hoping the bids will be in by early April so the design-build team will be selected about a month later. A general obligation bond election may be held in November if all goes according to plan.
Voters approved a 1997 bond issue for $9.2 million that is now being used to build the new $4.7 million, 28,000-square-foot library, the $2.4 million public works complex on 100 East and $1 million that purchased the four homes and school warehouse.
About $1.1 million went to purchase 90 acres of the state developmental school. Included was 16 acres west of the Mount Timpanogos LDS Temple that included an amphitheater and 20 acres of ballfields the city had been leasing from the state, Wanlass said.