Construction bids for Norfolk’s new fire house could be let by late February. At a meeting Thursday night Silver Petrucelli architect David Stein said construction design is 60 to 70 percent ready and could be complete by January 20. The construction management firm would then need another month to prepare to go out to bid.
The fire house committee has been working to reduce the cost of a building that was originally estimated to cost $9.3 million dollars. Fire Chief Brian Hutchins said earlier Thursday that significant cuts have been made, but the committee pressed for specifics about cheaper alternatives.
According to Stein, alternatives such as a standing-seam metal roof as opposed to asphalt shingles would save significant amounts of money, but reducing the size of the “fairly compact” building would probably not help. It is going to be largely a choice of materials,” he said.
Stein said 2024 has been “a rollercoaster” in terms of pricing, with costs inflated by 20 to 30 percent early in the year. Prices have stabilized now, however, and “the sooner we have numbers, the sooner you will know where you stand.”
Brian Grant of Newfield Construction, the management firm, agreed, saying the sooner the bid packages can go out, the better for the town. “Typically, we get two or three bids for every package,” he said. “The bidding market will tell us what it will actually be. It’s a dance right now, but it’s a simple enough project. I don’t think we will have to reduce it.”