The Margate Municipal Building is located at 9001 Winchester Ave.
By NANETTE LoBIONDO GALLOWAY
MARGATE – The city plans to spend up to $1.96 million next year for planned improvements to the Margate City Municipal Building on Winchester Avenue. The building, which was built in the 1950s as the Union Avenue School, is being upgraded to eliminate problem areas and increase security for municipal employees.
City engineer Ed Dennis Jr. prepared a memorandum and discussed the renovation project during his report to the Board of Commissioners Dec. 2.
Components of the project have already been removed from the scope of work to reduce costs, he said.
“Through the process of reviewing the design and making some revisions we were able to reduce the construction cost by $160,000, about a 10% reduction of where we were originally,” he said.
Dennis said with soft costs, which includes engineering, bidding and inspections and some work outside the architect’s estimate, the cost of renovations is $1.96 million. The city plans to supplement funding already available through a capital bond ordinance, which will be introduced early next year.
Work could begin in March and be completed by the middle of summer, depending on the availability of materials, he said.
A resolution will be on the agenda for the next meeting asking contractors to bid on the project.
“We worked hard at scrubbing this project down and getting rid of things we thought we could get rid of that wouldn’t take away from what we were trying to show,” Director of Major Facilities and Systems Analyst Fred Verna said. “The main thing is we wanted to keep in mind is security for the building, and that we did not touch, we kept that intact.”
Verna said the cost is high due to the size of the building.
“I don’t foresee us knocking anything else off of this. This is where it needs to be to get the project to look the way we want it to look for the city,” Verna said.
Commissioner John Amodeo said the money is well worth the cost of repurposing an existing building as opposed to building new, which would cost as much as $15 million.
The city took over the building to use as its municipal complex after Hurricane Sandy damaged Old City Hall at 1 S. Washington Ave. That building has been completely refurbished with partial funding from FEMA.
Work includes reconfiguring the tax and finance office, new lighting, flooring, installation of bulletproof transaction windows, renovating the corridor, installation of new wall coverings, ceilings, a set of doors to break up the “long look” of the corridor, a dehumidification system, reconstructing the vestibule, Americans With Disabilities Act improvements, electric doors, video cameras, asbestos abatement, exterior lighting, front entrance façade improvements, new furnishings and general cleanup after the work is completed.
“The cost sounds like it’s very expensive, but we are getting use out of a building and…bringing it up to modern standards,” Amodeo said, complimenting everyone who worked on the project.
“The project is a good project,” he said.
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