By Bob Gaetiens
Tallmadge Express—September 17, 2000
TALLMADGE—Following a four-week delay due to contractors' high bidding, renovations to the Tallmadge Municipal Building are progressing. Carmen Construction has been doing demolition work since Aug. 16 and hopes to meet the project deadline of Feb. 16, 2001.
The delay concerns Tallmadge Service Director David Kline, but he said he is confident the project will be a success.
"Since we had to go through that rebid process, I was concerned, but it seemed to work out," he said. "We made some modifications and the bids came in lower than the first time around."
He said the city and Carmen Construction have been working well together since they started several weeks ago.
"We've had a good rapport," he said.
Carmen Construction General Superintendent Lou Scala said the project has not been delayed since they started, but that there is still time for problems to develop. "It's a little early to say whether we're ahead or behind (schedule)," Scala said.
According to Carmen Construction President Joe Scaccio, the project "is going very well."
When asked to name the most challenging aspect of the City Hall construction project, Scaccio and Scala answered in chorus: "The time schedule."
Scala said the schedule does not allow for delays.
"There's no room for slack in the schedule," he said. "Everybody knows the schedule and as long as everybody keeps to it, things will be all right."
According to Scaccio, the construction company holds weekly project meetings during which they discuss the progress. They also took measures to help ensure speedy renovations.
"We picked some of the subcontractors based on time," he said.
Scala said it is helpful the city preordered the bricks through Bierce Hardware. Such measures, though not unheard of, are a little unusual.
"Where there's a site schedule like this, people can order bricks or mechanical equipment ahead of time," he said. "It's not uncommon, it just doesn't always happen.
"If we were waiting for 12 weeks for those bricks, we'd be up the creek."
The interior portion of the construction will take the most time, but getting the roof on in time for winter will be a greater challenge.
"The interior is going to take the longest (to complete), but getting the roof on is most critical," said Scala. "Getting the whole thing closed (roofed) for winter will be the toughest part."
This week, the crew is excavating and installing the foundation for the addition, which will house Council chambers. They have also eliminated the stairwells and opened up an area for a new stairwell, Scaccio said.
Carmen Construction recently installed structural steel beams which will help support the building.
"When you make a big, giant hole, you have to put in support," he said.
Carmen Construction has 185 days to complete the project, said Kline.
Other changes
One improvement not directly linked to the building itself is the city's plan to build and share a joint parking lot with the neighboring Fifth Third Bank.
The bank and municipal building will use the driveway between the buildings as a joint exit.
"That little island between the two will be eliminated," said Kline.
The bank and city will share an employee parking lot, he said.
The city water pump, located in the green space behind City Hall, will also be more dependable in the future thanks to a new permanent generator.
The new generator will make power outages less of a nuisance.
"Any time we lose power, the generator will click on," said Kline. "Now, we have to manually install a generator."
Kline said this "safety precaution" is "long overdue."
