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GoogleThe board met with recently-hired Construction Manager Dennis Paul on Tuesday evening, June 24, to put the finishing touches on a Request for Proposal for architectural services for the project.
Paul said there are a lot of architectural firms that can do the restoration planned for the courthouse, "but only a handful will meet all the project's needs. Very few have done this size of project."
He added, "You're looking for very nice end results, and you'll pay a premium for the architect, but that will be a small percentage of the total cost and it's worth it."
Voters approved a 1/4-cent sales tax in the April 8 election; restoration and repair of the courthouse is expected to cost in the range of $3.2 million. A $90,000 grant to help defray the cost of repairing the building's roof was received in March from the Missouri Heritage Properties Program. The roof repairs alone are expected to cost more than $200,000.
In response to questions from the board, Paul said "this is a good time to be doing this (project). It's not 'right now' work."
"Contractors want to bid in winter," he said, "when they're not overwhelmed with work."
Paul said that with actual construction work to begin in the spring of 2009, an October 2008 to February 2009 timeframe is a good time to obtain bids and select the contractors so they can be ready to move ahead and stay on schedule.
Board members will work with Paul to solicit architects. The board must receive RFPs no later than 4 p.m. Monday, July 21, to be eligible for consideration. The board expects to review the proposals quickly and will set up interviews for early August.
The next meeting of the board will be held Tuesday, July 22, at 6 p.m. in the Saline County Commission office on the lower level of the courthouse.
Contact Kathy Fairchild at