TRAVERSE CITY — Repairs for the aging Governmental Center are estimated to cost up to $7.5 million – should city and county leaders choose to move forward on the full list of recommended needs for the 57,000-square-foot facility.
Initial safety concerns are actively being addressed after Grand Traverse County commissioners approved more than $215,000 to repair the top two priorities highlighted by Traverse City firm Machin Engineering. Principal engineer Pat Machin said those projects are expected to begin soon.
“Priorities 1 and 2 are being taken care of right now … and pretty soon will be put out for bids,” Machin said Wednesday.
The engineer laid out the top two concerns identified by his firm at a county board meeting last month that detailed the ongoing structural and foundational issues of the 1979 building. Commissioners agreed to move ahead, which highlighted multiple basement areas showing signs of concrete deterioration, steel corrosion, moisture intrusion, cracking, spalling and rust jacking.
The immediate repairs account for $215,400 of the total repair estimate, which ranges between $6.75 million and $7.5 million, Machin said.
“In a nutshell, we have a scope of work that’s included in here and a representative cost for that,” he said. “We feel very confident in these costs, taking into account all of the work that we would end up proposing.”
According to Machin, approximately 45% of the total recommended repairs for the entire facility are considered safety issues that will need to be addressed within the next three to five years before they become urgent concerns.
“I say three to five years because three to five years always turns into seven (years),” he told the board. “If we end up doing this work, it increases the life span of exactly what we have right now … 35, 45 years.”
Commissioners also inquired about the anticipated report from Plante Moran RealPoint, a real estate firm contracted to asses the county’s future use of all their facilities.
County Administrator Nate Alger noted the Plante Moran facilities report is expected to come before the board between August and September, acknowledging that the immediate repairs altered the direction of their assessments.
“Plante Moran has been receiving these updates so they’re aware what is occurring with the building,” Alger said.
Board vice chair T.J. Andrews concurred with Commissioner Rob Hentschel that Machin’s repair estimates are an important piece of the picture that the county should consider when making future-use decisions.
“We cannot evaluate whether to do this right now,” Andrews said. “It’s a huge investment.”
There are still disagreements with city leaders on a cost-sharing agreement for the current repairs underway, Alger said. While the city and county assume a 50-50 split ownership of the building, maintenance costs are often calculated based on a split of the county’s 76% occupancy compared to the city’s roughly 24% occupancy.
“There is a difference of opinion on what that looks like, we are still navigating that,” Alger said. “We don’t want to hold the process up with the discussion about if it’s 26 percent or half (of the costs), we want to move forward with the project.
“We’ll continue to talk with them on whether it’s the percentage of building occupancy or your co-tenant concept,” he told commissioners.
The county board’s next regular meeting is scheduled for 9 a.m. Aug. 12 at the Governmental Center, 400 Boardman Ave., in Traverse City. The public is welcome to attend.