I agree with the writer last week that our police need a modern and usable facility, but the costs per square foot are completely out of line with reality.
One facet of the problem is that architect and design fees are set as a percentage of the project cost. So where would a thinking person imagine that drives the cost of a project, particularly a public building such as a school or public safety facility?
Not at all difficult to connect the dots and figure that out.
With over 25 years of experience in heavy construction supervision, project management and estimating in heavy construction, I have more than a passing knowledge of how these things go … and it is not a pretty scenario for the public.
I’ve done some research online and construction costs for new hospitals in April 2013, and they were coming in at under $300 per square foot, not including A&D fees. In my estimation, hospitals would be at the high end of construction costs due to the increased piping, air conditioning and monitoring systems required. It follows that a public safety building, a pretty basic office building should realistically come in at less than that figure, no more than double, and presenting that price to the voters as realistic is malfeasance at its worst.
Kent is a working-class community, and we just need a very usable, low-maintenance facility that will do the job, not an ivory sheathed palace at a cost that amounts to a fleecing of the citizens.
Appealing to the public’s desire to support their police to enable wastage of funds of this magnitude from City Hall is unconscionable. Small wonder that the ShoWare Center is such a white elephant with this sort of malfeasance.
– Paul Nickelson
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