Lake County administration Building

Plans for a new Lake County Administration Building took a step forward after commissioners approved sub-part one of the Architectural and Engineering Services Agreement with Burgess & Niple Inc. Feb. 18.

Upon total completion, the county will close satellite operations that include the administrative offices of the Lake County Engineer’s Office and the Building Department. Other offices that will relocate as part of the project include the Department of Utilities, Stormwater Management, Soil and Water Conservation District and Planning and Community Development.

Locating these offices in one building will provide operational efficiencies and reduce barriers to local businesses by merging services they need into a single, effective space, County Administrator Jason Boyd said.

“Some of the questions we’ve been asked, ‘What’s it going to look like, how big is it going to be?’ We have a vision, but that B & N is going to guide us to, ” Boyd said.

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The county’s administration building — the Nolan Building — located at 105 Main St. in Painesville also will be renovated as part of the project.

In 2013, officials began looking into the county’s facilities. Among the buildings looked at were the county jail — a future public safety center is on the horizon “at some point, ” Boyd said — and other offices, including the Engineer’s Office.

“We decided we needed to take a hard look of where we wanted to be in the future from an office standpoint, ” Boyd said.

Boyd and Department of Utilities Executive Director Rick Martin, among others, were tasked with looking at leasing property at existing structures in Painesville, as well as some vacant properties in the city. They decided it probably wasn’t in the county’s best interest to become a tenant in the long haul and it made more sense to construct a new facility.

In 2014, they began to focus in on 85 N. Park Place, the site of the Painesville Senior Center., the county purchased the property from Painesville Area Senior Center Inc. for $275, 000.

After the purchase, an internal review team that included Boyd, the county commissioners, two utilities employees and the county engineer formed and a Request for Qualifications was sent out in May 2015 and got responses from nine firms and B & N, which has an office in Painesville, was ultimately chosen.

The initial work performed by B & N is expected to be completed within 90 days and includes:

• Nolan Building facility assessment and recommendations report

• Nolan Building measured drawings of existing conditions

• Nolan Building Phase 1 Environmental Site Assessment (ESA) and Hazardous Materials Assessment & Report

• 85 N. Park Place ESA

• Lake County Maintenance Garage Phase 1 ESA

• Parking analysis

• Historic preservation analysis

• Construction Manager at Risk selection assistance

This part of the project is for an amount not to exceed $123, 500.

Lake County and B & N will use the data gathered from this report as the foundation for the overall architectural design and associated project costs. Project design is anticipated to take about a year and construction is scheduled to take 15 months, resulting in a spring/summer 2018 opening.

“We want it to be flexible, joined office spaces, conference spaces, we don’t want it to be over the top, we want to meet the needs over the next couple of decades, ” Boyd said. “We think this is the best choice moving forward.”