Lot of things happened in 1981 Kim Carnes had the song of the year: Betty Davis Eyes, Raiders of the Lost Ark was the top grossing movie, Ronald Reagan was inaugurated president and the Oakland Raiders won the Super Bowl. Meanwhile, Normal constructed Fire Station Two.
The station is located at 1300 E.College Ave. It was opened in Sept. of 1981 at a cost of $450,000.
At the council meeting, 40 years later, they’re talking about replacing it. Normal will be constructing the new station on its east side and it costs about $5 million.
Where is the money coming from?
Normal City Manager Pam Reece said $2.9 million will come from the general fund, $1 million from bank funds and $1 million from a grant that was awarded by former State Representative Dan Brady.
However, a Feb. 22, 2022 story in the Vidette said the Town took “out a $2.5 million loan from Busey Bank in support of financing the construction of” the station.
Kathleen Lorenz wants town to reach out to nearby residents to seek their feedback about the station design….
In 2019, the Town got some property at the northeast quadrant of the Shepard Road, and Hershey Road. intersection, adjacent to Blackstone Trails subdivision, according to staff.
That choice of property was met with some objection from the subdivision.
Council Member Kathleen Lorenz pointed out the objection.
“When we were first selecting the location, of course, it got a lot of attention from neighbors,” said Lorenz. “I am not at all suggesting that we revisit those conversations. But I am suggesting, or asking, that we do look for ways in the design process to engage the neighbors nearby.”
Lorenz said she was not asking that the fire station be designed by committee.
“I can only imagine what might be the results from that. Obviously we need to have the experts design it from a functionality feature point of view,” said Lorenz. “So by all means that control would stay with the experts. But what I am asking for is borrow from some success that we have had from some other recent land developments whereby the developers in those cases brought the neighbors into conversation to create better awareness and education and to the extent that they could weigh in on certain aspects, that they would be allowed to do that.”
Normal staff was trying to negotiate a design-build contract for the new fire station.
The town is using a design/build approach, meaning it isn’t hiring an architect separately. But town staff recommended council authorize CORE Construction and Farnsworth Group to design and build the project.
“We feel like we can work with them to make the decisions that need to be made. It seems we can save a lot of money when you do it that way,” said Normal Fire Chief Mick Humer.
What’s the downside? Sounds like no architect means taxpayers save money and the folks at fire station can have a say in what changes should be made to the design?
If the contractor questions the plans continuously and requires numerous plan changes it involves more staff time to be used by the owner and increases the owner’s costs as the contractor seeks to gain an economic advantage. The process also does not produce work of the best quality as contractors may attempt to cut corners and slip them by the owner’s inspector.
Neil Finlen who leads Farnsworth Group’s Civil Engineering/Land Development team said, “It is more of a seamless process and probably more of a cooperative effort, where the designer and the contractor and the owner are really all working together. I think there is probably some efficiencies in time, which means also some cost savings as well. It just delivers really a better product in less time and really less hassle.”
Humer said he doesn’t anticipate any kind of groundbreaking until the spring of 2024.
