Politics & Government

Municipal Complex Plans Continue to Crystallize

The project is expected to be ready for bid by June, with groundbreaking later in the summer.

CLARIFICATION: In a previous version of this story, it was reported the estimated cost of the municipal complex project was less than $10 million. That figure was only for the building cost and did not include other costs. Patch apologizes for the error.

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By next month, the township is expected to have a more firm estimate of the price tag for the municipal complex.

For now, the building cost stands at a little less than $10 million ($220 per square foot x 44,500 square feet), according to Ragan Design architect Dan Nichols. However, that does not include site construction and various soft costs (soil tests, inspections, architectural and engineering fees).

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Nichols said Ragan will submit design development drawings to Greyhawk—a construction/program management and consulting firm —next month, at which point a budget for the project will be crafted.

Nichols and Michael Wisnosky, a partner at Ragan, presented council with the latest plans for the complex, including a never-before-seen rendition of the exterior of the building.

The plans for the administration building/library closely mirrored what has been previously discussed and presented, with a few changes, including the addition of a small parking area behind the complex along Washington Avenue as a point of ingress and egress for contractors and a space in front of the building for a sculpture.

“I’m not sure if it should be the RCA-Victor dog, but you get my thought,” Wisnosky said regarding the sculpture. “Something that may represent, in some way, Moorestown.”

An approximately one-acre open space area, on the site of the , was labeled “possible future amphitheater,” but Wisnosky stressed that was just a label.

Nichols gave an overview of the library side of the building, which will include an information technology classroom, a teen room, tutoring spaces and multiple meeting spaces, . In the latest plans, the library comprises 24,500 square feet of the total project space.

Wisnosky and Nichols also responded to questions from members of council regarding concerns about a garage that had been located on and possible contamination issues resulting from that. Nichols explained the most recent tests indicated “the site was clean, the soil was clean,” and the environmental investigation undertaken by Brinkerhoff Environmental is, at this point, a simple matter of monitoring wells installed last year.

Both men said they had no reason to believe the project would be stalled by the environmental investigation. Still, Councilwoman Stacey Jordan wanted reassurances.

“I would feel better if we had it in writing,” she said, to which Nichols and Wisnosky responded they would inquire.

Township manager Scott Carew has said previously he expects the project will be ready to go out to bid in June, with groundbreaking sometime in August.

He said plans presented to him by Rick Ragan, principal of Ragan Design Group, regarding improvements to the —another element of the municipal complex project—would break the project into three phases, with an estimated cost of $697,947.

Carew said phase one, involving structural, mechanical and electrical improvements, should be ready to bid in two to three weeks.

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