20 Federal Place

[Rick Rowlands]

I'm not too confident with the Public Works people.  Seems to be a lot going on recently with Public Works screwups.  Time for a change.

[northside lurker]

As far as I know, prior to the closing of Strouss it only went through two owners. Strauss Hirshburg and Kauffmans. After it stopped being a department store Phar Mor obtained it.

There might be a set of blueprints for the building existing but I'm not at liberty here to say who may have them.

Sure, original drawings may exist somewhere.  But, there has to be a connection between the person holding the drawings, and the person who needs the drawings.  A coworker came to possess an original blueprint (not a copy, but an original, linen blueprint) of the Mahoning County Courthouse.  He was honest and gave the drawing back.  But, he could have just as easily taken the drawing home and had it framed.

[Towntalk]

As far as I know, prior to the closing of Strouss it only went through two owners. Strauss Hirshburg and Kauffmans. After it stopped being a department store Phar Mor obtained it.

There might be a set of blueprints for the building existing but I'm not at liberty here to say who may have them.

[northside lurker]

Oh, sorry Jay, I just realized what you were asking; would the city still have the drawings.

I doubt that the city keeps their copies of the building plans.  Where would they keep all of them?  Also, what were the procedures back when the building was built?  Were drawings submitted to the city at all, back then?

[northside lurker]

Question

When a building is constructed,  the builder has to submit many architectural drawings to the city building department for approval.

What happens to those blueprints?

Consider the age of the building.  How many times did it change owners over its lifetime?  The original plans were probably lost the first time the building changed owners.

[jay]

Question

When a building is constructed,  the builder has to submit many architectural drawings to the city building department for approval.

What happens to those blueprints?

[northside lurker]

They did know about the fur vault.  I remember reading about it in the paper.  But I can't speak abuot what they didn't know, and whether they should have known, or not.

What about the city saying, after getting an estimate that it would hold the winning bid to that amount period and maby add 10% to cover unforseen problems?

I'm no expert on this aspect of construction but, as far as I know, you can't make this kind of change to a contract after it's been awarded.  And, if this were in the contract when the job went out for bids, no contractors would likely submit a bid.

[Towntalk]

Thank you for the information Westsider, but they had to know about the fur vault and the refrigeration unit that went with it.

But how could a $21,000 job jump to an almost $120,000 job?  "A ton of unforeseen circumstances" ... "It was more demolition than we thought."  What about the city saying, after getting an estimate that it would hold the winning bid to that amount period and maby add 10% to cover unforseen problems?

[northside lurker]

Question:

Doesn't the city have floor plans and blue prints for this building that would have shown the thick walls and fur vault that they could have referred to before they put the bids out?

And what about a walk through with experts after reviewing the blue prints?

No, there are no blueprints of the building, that I'm aware of.  My office had a job in that building a few years ago, and all we had to work with was a single line drawing.

[Towntalk]

Question:

Doesn't the city have floor plans and blue prints for this building that would have shown the thick walls and fur vault that they could have referred to before they put the bids out?

And what about a walk through with experts after reviewing the blue prints?

[Towntalk]

20 Federal Place

Doesn't anyone down at City Hall know what they're doing before they start a project?

We're now talking about the city spending big bucks on just this one deal so far, and it's bound to go higher before it's done. And this is just for the 5th floor of the building.

http://www.vindy.com/news/2010/jun/25/federal-place-renovation-costs-soar/

"A ton of unforeseen circumstances" is how a city official explained the cost for a demolition project at 20 Federal Place increasing from $21,000 to $119,866.60.

"It was more demolition than we thought," said Charles Shasho, deputy director of the city's public works department.

The board of control approved increasing the contract with Ricottilli Construction Co. of Poland on May 13 from $21,000 to $72,000 for additional demolition work to the long-vacant fifth floor of the city-owned building at 20 W. Federal St.
The board voted Thursday to increase the contract's cost again — this time to $119,866.60, nearly six times more than the original amount.
City council has approved legislation to lend $2 million to the company for up to 12 months with an interest rate of 0.25 of a percent as well as give $650,000 — $350,000 in cash and $300,000 in utility improvements — to VXI to get the company to expand here.