Government Center Building Remodel / Addition
Remodel / Addition Project | 2024
The Village utilizes the Government Center for all Administrative and Police operations for the Village. On the administrative side, this includes the village administrator's office, the finance office, the planning & zoning office, and the utility billing office. On the police side this includes the police chief's office, interview rooms, road room, and police storage as well as other necessary spaces.
This facility also serves as the central place for meetings for Village operations. This includes bi-weekly Village Council meetings, monthly Planning Commission and Board of Zoning Appeals meetings, and all other general meetings for Village staff.
This building has become less efficient over the last 20 years, and the space is no longer serving the Village's needs appropriately. The building also has not seen the investment necessary to keep up with the maintenance on the building, and there is long-term damage to the building that needs to be resolved.
A public meeting regarding the proposed remodel and addition to the Government Center was held August 16 from 6-8PM at the Government Center, where the public was able to review the plans and make comments.
Review / Options for Government Operations
Buy Existing Building, Update it, and Move
The Village worked to determine if any buildings in the downtown would serve as a potential new home for the Government Center operations. The Village looked at 5 properties that were considered and determined that the likely cost to purchase the land/building would be roughly $250,000 and renovations would be estimated to be $3-5 million to meet current codes and requirements. The total cost on average for the five buildings reviewed was $4.5 million to create a building that would meet the current needs of the Village.
Build a New Building
The Village worked to determine where a new building could be constructed and at what price. Looking at multiple sites that are owned by the Village or could be purchased by the Village it was determined that an estimated cost for a 9,000 square foot building along with property acquisition and improvements would be $3-4 million.
Invest in the current Government Center
The Village utilized Candace's experience in local construction costs to estimate the improvements necessary and to put a general cost on the improvements to the building and necessary addition for the Council Chambers space to be around $2.2 million, with an understanding that numbers would just continue to rise.
Public Input / Meetings
The Village completed multiple surveys in the Fall of 2022 related to the Facilities Management Plan, which included questions about the Government Center and generally the public felt the Wastewater Plant was the highest priority. There was additional support for updating of the Council Chambers to be bigger and have more technology as part of its operations. Discussion at the Council meetings began in October, 2022 and have continued since. In February, 2023 the Village hired Garmann / Miller to formally design the update to the Government Center for consideration under Resolution R03-23.
Council heard updates on the Government Center Project at the public Council meetings on the following dates:
- Council Discussion Item - October 17, 2022
- Council Discussion Item - December 5, 2022
- Council Discussion Item - December 19, 2022
- State of the Village - February 6, 2023
- Resolution R03-23 - Hiring Garmann / Miller for the redesign of the Government Center (1st Reading) - February 6, 2023
- Resolution R03-23 - Hiring Garmann / Miller for the redesign of the Government Center (2nd Reading / Approval) - February 21, 2023
- Strategic Plan Update Discussion - May 1, 2023
- Resolution R19-23 - 2023 Strategic Plan Discussion - May 15, 2023
- Council Discussion Item - June 20, 2023
- Public Meeting - August 16, 2023
- Miami Valley News Article - August 21, 2023 - https://miamivalleytoday.com/village-of-covington-holds-open-house-on-go...
- Resolution R30-23 - Authorizing the Village Administrator to Request Proposals for Addition and Remodel of the Governement Center (1st Reading) - August 22, 2023
- Resolution R39-23 - Authorizing the Village Administrator to accept a bid for the construction of the Government Center (12/4/2023 adopted)
History of Government Center Operation in Covington
Current Government Center (1975-Current)
The Village operations have been in the current building since 1975 when the Village moved from its previous location on Broadway. The current building is roughly 50' x 105' or 5,250 square feet on the primary floor with a partial basement and sally port. This building is next to land that was donated to the Village in September of 1973 by local merchants group called the Downtown Improvement Association. This land, known as the Shellabarger house, was razed after the donation. The land was utilized as a parking lot for many years.
Over the course of the last almost 50 years, the Village has done very little to improve the building. The building was purchased from DP&L for $38,000 and was modified to add offices and to enclose the large garage doors that faced Ullery Street, which were utilized for vehicle maintenance and storage. The front door of the building faced High Street and over the years the design of the facade changed. The building is shown below in 1981 which has the famous statue of liberty in front of it. You can also see that the neon sign from the original building was transferred over to the new building.
The building did not receive any substantial amount of investment from 1975 until 2003 when the Village Council began looking into making improvements to the building to add office space, update the Council Chambers, and make the building more efficient for their operations. The Village vacated Ullery Street and installed a municipal parking to the north of the Government Center in 2015.
The Village moved forward with the Government Center renovation project and approved the bid for work in 2005. The work was completed in June, 2006 at a cost of $1,051,606. This work included plumbing, mechanical, electrical, and fire suppression work, along with updates to the Council Chambers and internal layout of the building. This work did not include roof fixes, nor improvements to the exterior facade.
Since that time the building has not received any additional substantial investments to bring the building into compliance with the current building codes. No window, facade, roof, or other structural improvements have been made to the Government Center Building since 2006.
Major water infiltration into the building through the roof and windows were first noted in 2021. The Village has tried to do smaller patches, but the building facade that was placed on the building in 2006, considered a storefront, was just added to the outside of the existing building and cannot be improved simply. Beyond the necessary building shell improvements needed, the building also has substantial improvements necessary related to mechanical systems (HVAC, fire suppression, electrical, generator), technological upgrades, and safety improvements.
Broadway / Pearl Building (TBD-1975)
