While architects recently raised their cost estimates for a potential renovation of the Pulaski County Courthouse, the county commissioners are worried that costs could end up being even higher.
Last week, commissioners Jerry Locke and Kenny Becker said that after their experience with last year’s courthouse elevator replacement, they weren’t convinced that a 10-percent contingency allowance would cut it. “You get in there like we got in there with the elevator, and there was $87,000 over, which was over 25 percent,” Becker said.
Todd Zeiger with Indiana Landmarks assured the commissioners that Rowland Design’s latest figures were estimated on the high end. “They went with a higher per-square-foot cost for both new and renovation to help you with a realistic number and then took their numbers from the architect and priced it with a very respected construction company who helped them make sure that they’re on target with the numbers, so it’s kind of like belts, suspenders, and button,” Zeiger said. “I mean, it’s all kinds of ways to make sure those numbers are realistic.”
The commissioners asked a few questions about what specifically is included in the estimates. Zeiger explained that the cost of asbestos removal has been factored in, as well as the cost of taking core samples. “We didn’t take core samples as part of the study, but there is pricing in there, if necessary, to do that,” he said. “So you could do the testing to verify, if there was concerns about that, certainly it would be part of the project and is included in that estimate – on all of the estimates.”
Rowland’s latest courthouse renovation estimates range from just under $4.9 million up to almost $8.6 million, depending on whether circuit court and the clerk’s office might move to an expanded Justice Center. Tearing down the historic courthouse and building an even larger Justice Center addition is estimated to cost almost $8.8 million.
