New Columbus government center could cost $100 million or more

Demolishing the Government Center on 10th Street and replacing it with a brand new structure could cost the city more than $100 million dollars, the city manager said Thursday.

The option was discussed at the first gathering of Mayor Teresa Tomlinson’s Commission on New Government and Judicial Building. Those in attendance included city staff, local judges, public safety officials, historic preservationists and other stakeholders.

City Inspection and Codes Director John Hudgison presented the group with findings and recommendations from a 2013 building assessment conducted by the 2WR architectural firm. After describing a building that’s woefully outdated in many respects, he told the group that it would cost about $49,514,827 to renovate the current building and about $91,169,785 to build a new facility entirely and renovate the east and west wings.

City Manager Isaiah Hugley went even further, estimating that a new building could cost over $100 million.

Tomlinson said it was her understanding that the Citizens Services Center had been built for about $10 million. Since the Government Center is about four times the size of that building, she wondered why the cost of a new Government Center wouldn’t be closer to $40 million.

Hudgison said that’s because it would cost an extra $62,557,638 just to demolish the tower.

Hugley said the entire City Services Center site — including the aquatic building, citizens service building, parking structure, and landscaping — cost about $32 million. He said there are a range of options to consider for the Government Center project, but building a separate judicial building wouldn’t necessarily lower the cost.

“If we want to construct a courthouse that’s going to be representative of a city our size, there’s a certain quality that’s going to come with it, and with quality comes costs,” he said. “And so if you want a courthouse, a judicial center, to be constructed to the quality of the city services center, you basically get what you pay for. But when you go to other communities, and you see judicial centers, it looks like a courthouse. And I think that’s something that we probably want to construct, because it’s going be here to represent the citizens of Columbus for the next 75 years.”

Hugley referred to the renovated courthouse in Russell County as an example of what the city should aim for. Chief Superior Court Judge Gil McBride suggested a building where judges won’t have their own courtrooms. He said he’s seen some courthouses where the judges’ offices are separate, and the courtrooms are utilized based on need.

Kristen Miller Zohn, a local art historian and downtown resident, said the courthouse in Newnan cost $14 million for 130,000 square feet.

Tomlinson said she thinks the 2WR estimates may be due to certain assumptions. She said the committee would do more research to determine what is really needed, and that it plans to tour the building at its next meeting.

The committee also would continue to look into all options, from retrofitting the current building, to building a new tower and renovating the two wings, to building two separate buildings, the mayor said. The group also plans to research possible grants available for judicial centers that could offset the costs.

Despite questions about the potential price tag, those in the room seemed convinced that the Government Center has operational and public safety issues that need to be addressed, and that the current situation is just a disaster waiting to happen.

In his presentation, Hudgison said the structure of the building appears to be sound, but there are problems with the roof, the HVAC system, the elevators, non-insulated windows, audio visual fire alarms and the generator, as well as with water backing up into the basement. He said the building only has sprinklers on the ground floor and the basement, and it doesn’t meet American Disability Act standards.

Public Works Director Pat Biegler said it’s been a challenge trying to upgrade the building, which was built before many of the current building codes were instituted.

“Any changes in this building because of Fire Department requirements and otherwise, we have to get an architect seal on the drawings, which has slowed down improvements to this building,” she said. “And that had to be done to make sure we were not making the situation any worse than it was.”

The Government Center was built from 1969 to 1970 and was first occupied in 1971, according to information provided by the mayor’s office. The building houses offices for the mayor, city manager and city attorney, as well as administrative offices such as IT and Finance. It also is the location of offices for judges, county and municipal clerks, courtrooms, and the offices of the District Attorney, Sheriff, and Marshal.

Maj. Mike Massey, of the Muscogee County Sheriff’s Office, said the building is the nightmare that keeps him up at night.

“It’s a beautiful building when you ride by,” he said. “But I’ve spent most of my 35 years working in here. And when I hear a fire alarm, do not be in my way.”

He said the building was designed to bring the county and city municipalities together in one building, and it worked well in the early 1970s when the city government, visitor load and local population was much smaller.

He said the building didn’t receive an occupancy permit when it was first built due to code violations. There were no major threats at the time, he said, but added that the world changed after 9/11, when security check-points were implemented and the building became less visitor friendly.

Massey said the building has seven Superior Courts, two state courts, one municipal court, one probate court, a juvenile court (soon to be two), and three law enforcement agencies. He said it’s built similar to the Alfred P. Murrah Federal Building in Oklahoma City that was attacked in 1995, killing 168 people.

Georgia code requires that he present Judge McBride with a comprehensive security plan annually for approval, he said. But that’s becoming more difficult with the increase in criminal and severe mental health cases coming through the building, he said, and that the current systems inside the building are inadequate to meet the growing demands.

“I have to make sure that I am able to implement what’s in that (comprehensive security) plan,” he said. “Right now we’re able to do that, but on a day-to-day basis all of those systems are starting to crash around me.”

This story was originally published February 10, 2017 at 3:07 PM with the headline "New Columbus government center could cost $100 million or more."