At the City of Tallahassee budget workshop on May 19th, elected officials received an update on major construction projects. These projects included the Tallahassee police headquarters, the Northeast Senior Center, and the Lake Bradford fire station.
Tallahassee Police Headquarters
On January 29, 2020, after a two-year public outreach effort, the City Commission selected the former Northwood Mall Centre as the location for the new Tallahassee Police Department Headquarters complex. An Architect and Construction Manager at Risk (CMAR) were competitively procured. A conceptual design and master planning efforts are underway. Demolition of the existing structure is scheduled to begin in May 2021 and will take approximately 8 to 10 months, depending on tenant occupancy.
This project is programmed in the five-year capital plan to be funded with bonds and will require long-term debt financing that will be repaid through debt service payments from the general fund over multiple years.
Police operations are projected to begin at the new location by 2024.
Northeast Senior Center
In June 2019, an architectural firm was selected to design the new facility on six acres donated by Premier Construction located on Welaunee Boulevard in the Canopy development.
The new facility will model a complete Senior Center with a broad array of program offerings and services. Program spaces include a medium-sized conference center, Lifelong Learning, Wellness Center, Fitness equipment, Art Studio, welcoming lobby and pre-event space, cards and game room, and a gymnasium large enough to accommodate six pickleball courts, two basketball courts, multiple table tennis tables, and two volleyball courts.
In November 2020, a Construction Management company was selected via bid process. Construction is tentatively projected to begin in late 2021.
Currently, a total of $17 million is planned to be funded from the 2020 Sales Tax extension for the construction of this new facility. Paid from annual revenues, a pledge on sales tax would provide the additional debt capacity to move forward with this highly anticipated addition to the Parks and Recreation system.
The partnership the City has with the Tallahassee Senior Center Foundation has been a successful model at the existing Senior Center, and staff is working closely with the Foundation to ensure the same success for this new facility.
Lake Bradford Road Fire Station
On January 20, 2020, the City Commission directed staff to initiate design and master planning services for the new Fire Station 17 and Community Resilience Center at the former Lake Bradford Road Wastewater Treatment Facility. This new facility will enhance response times for fire and other emergency services on the City’s southside and will increase the percentage of the City covered by Advanced Life Support (ALS) fire stations.
On March 24, 2021, the City Commission approved the Evaluation Committee’s recommendation to award RFQ-028-21-CC for architectural services to the highest ranked firm, Architects Design Group. The contract is currently in negotiation and once executed, the spatial needs assessments with the affected City Departments will begin.
This project is programmed in the five-year capital plan to be funded with Future Capital Bonds and will require long-term debt financing that will be repaid through debt service payments from the Fire Services and General funds over multiple years.
City Provides Updates on Major Construction Projects added by Staff on
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Northwood Center is a very strong Building, you should only need to gut some of it for what you need. Do NOT tear it all down.
As for the Northeast Senior Center, I would like to know about any “Favors Given or going to be give for the six acres DONATED by Premier Construction located on Welaunee Boulevard in the Canopy development.
WHY do you need to hire an Architect to design the Fire Station? There are already several different ones already, pick one and use THOSE Plans and go with it.