Price of Riley KS Public Safety HQ Skyrockets

Mar. 13—Riley County EMS/Ambulance director David Adams said the county's Public Safety Headquarters project will cost more than officials initially thought.

Adams told Riley County commissioners Monday that the project cost estimate from BHS Construction and Archimages has risen to $19.5 million, up from the initial $12.3 million construction proposal.

Adams told the commission that he, along with other members of the Public Safety building committee, met with representatives of BHS and Archimages last week to review the project's scope.

The proposed 17,500-square-foot headquarters will be at Claflin and Charles Little Road, next to the Riley County Family and Child Resource Center.

The building would replace the current EMS headquarters at 2011 Claflin Road, which is across the street, while also housing Emergency Management and Riley County Fire District No. 1 administrators, a conference/training room, offices, an Emergency Operations Center (EOC), and a backup dispatch center (the main 911 dispatch would remain at the Riley County Police Department headquarters).

Adams said BHS representatives and principal architect Kile Morrison of Archimages will take the proposal "back to the drawing board" to find ways to save money.

He said he was also meeting with IT professionals at the Riley County Police Department Monday to determine what it would cost to install a backup dispatch center, which would be housed either in the basement or on the top floor of the HQ building. Adams told The Mercury that the $19.5 million estimate does not include IT infrastructure for additional dispatch operations.

Commission chairwoman Kathryn Focke asked Adams if adding a basement would be more expensive than placing backup dispatch on the third floor of the building.

Adams said that's something BHS and Archimages representatives would discuss, to see if there are some savings to be had with either choice. In February, commissioners decided they wanted to keep a third-floor shell space as a flexible option for backup dispatch or EOC operations.

Morrison, who joined the meeting via Zoom, told the commission that he will talk with the building design team this week about reducing the overall cost while maintaining the building's floorplan and function.

Commissioner John Ford said he figured the projected cost of the Public Safety HQ would come in at about $16 million-$18 million. He did appreciate that the new building will be designed and built to last at least 30 years.

"You have to build for the future with something like this," Ford said, "you just have to."

Adams will return to address the county commission on the status of the Public Safety HQ project later this month. He told The Mercury that, when the current EMS headquarters was built in 1980, it was intended to be a temporary facility designed for a volunteer agency, not a full-time ambulance service.

"The county has been looking at expanding or building a new facility since 1995, when the first plans were drawn," Adams said. "Phase 1 (of the original project) was to reconfigure the parking lot, and that was finished, but Phase 2 was never implemented."

Last week, Riley County commissioners approved a $799,000 bid to build an additional EMS station in Leonardville, in northern Riley County.

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