THE FOLLOWING STORY IS BY BILL PICKETT
A Danville City Council committee is recommending a consultant be hired to oversee the planned demolition of some downtown buildings. They are Bresee Tower and the Vermilion County Courthouse Annex.
Danville Public Works Director David Ruwe explains the agreement approved during last night’s (Tuesday’s) city council committee meeting…
AUDIO: This is an agreement to just extend the contract with the firm that is assisting us with the design efforts and bidding efforts; and then construction management efforts as the Breeze Tower building and Court Annex building are being demolished.
Ruwe noted the day after Election Day will mark a big step toward getting the buildings demolished….
AUDIO: The bids, or I guess proposals, are due November 6th. After that, we’re hoping to get a contract awarded; and then I would say, within a year, things should be complete.
(1st Picture, third from left) Danville Director of Public Works David Ruwe. (2nd Picture) Members of Danville City Council Public Works Committee.
Ruwe added that even though bids are scheduled to be received November 6th, it will likely be some time before the demolition actually begins…
AUDIO: It would depend a lot on what the contractor’s proposal is, and what safety precautions need to be taken into account. I would definitely say, due to a lot of the asbestos materials and things of that nature that are within the building; we know that we likely won’t see from the outside driving by, progress for quite some time. But I think once that starts, it sounds like that will go rather quickly.
The Public Works Committee voted unanimously to retain The Farnsworth Group to oversee the project. The committee’s recommendation now heads to the full city council for consideration.
Also during Tuesday night’s meeting the committee recommended hiring a firm for project development services to review proposals from architectural firms who want to design some new Danville fire stations.
Fire Chief Aaron Marcott said a dozen architectural firms earlier submitted proposals, but that number has been reduced to four.
The consultant who will review their plans will be paid upwards of $40-thousand dollars if the city council approves the agreement.
