MANSFIELD – Work on a $3.5 million, year-long project to improve the Mansfield Municipal Building is scheduled to begin in late September.
The work is being funded with a portion of the city’s American Rescue Plan Act, a project approved by the City Council more than two years ago.
Then-Mayor Tim Theaker said in April 2022 that the nine-story city building at 30 N. Diamond St. had not undergone any significant renovations since it was built half a century ago.
The contract for the work was awarded to Adena Corp. by the city’s Board of Supervisors earlier this month. The Mansfield-based company submitted the only bid for the project, according to city engineer Bob Bianchi.
Since funding was approved by local lawmakers in 2022, construction prices have continued to rise and decisions must be made about which projects can be completed, Bianchi said.
The total cost of all the improvements the city wanted to make to the building was $5.2 million, he said, so the bids solicited for the project included alternatives.
“We’ve slowed down,” said Bianchi. “We haven’t produced all the components we wanted to produce.”
“We suspected we would never be able to do all the work we set out to do, but that’s the way it is.
“You try to include alternatives in the bid to see how much of the work you can possibly do yourself,” said the engineer.
The planned work includes:
— Reconstruction of the vestibule at the building’s Diamond Street entrance. Bianchi said structural steel and concrete repairs still need to be done below the entrance.
— The council chambers will be renovated and will receive a new ceiling, new lighting and new audio-visual equipment. The space behind the audience seats will also be renovated to allow people to move more freely in the back of the council chambers. The rows of seats for local MPs and members of the city council will also be remodeled and renovated.
– Replacement of the cast iron sewer pipe on floors five to nine on the men’s side of the chimney.
— Restrooms on floors five through nine will be renovated and converted to be ADA compliant. Restrooms on the second floor will also be renovated.
— All corner windows in the building on floors five through nine will be removed and repaired. Bianchi said the windows leak when it rains. Those windows will be removed, cleaned and reinstalled with a material designed to prevent further leaks.
– The ceiling on the third floor in front of the city council meeting rooms will be replaced.
— On floors four to eight, tea kitchens/break rooms will be set up for employees, including work surfaces, sinks and refrigerators.
“We expect construction to begin in late September or early October. (Adena) believes it will take a full year to complete the project,” he said. “They want to get in and out.”
The largest project not included in the approved plan was the replacement of the mezzanine and retaining wall on the east side of the building, located near a second-floor entrance used by employees.
“We are looking at a plan to replace it within the next five years,” Bianchi said, estimating that the steel and concrete work there would cost $1.1 million.
