City Council Hears Update On NIPSCO Building
July 28, 2016 at 4:25 p.m.
The Warsaw City Council received an update on the former NIPSCO building Wednesday.
Ken Herceg of Herceg and Associates, the engineering and architectural company working on the renovation design for the building, gave a report during a special meeting.
The property, located behind Owen's on Center Street, has a main office building, a garage and plenty of parking, according to Herceg. Renovation for the main office building will consist mainly of basic drywall and painting, adding heating and cooling and installation of a new roof, he said.
The new police department site will eliminate congestion in the current building it shares with the mayor and clerk offices. Once the police department moves, the clerk's office in the city building can be expanded. There will be no jail facilities or victims' center at the new police department. It will be able to accommodate a holding cell if necessary.
DARE officers will also be incorporated into the new building. They are currently not in the police department.
The NIPSCO property was originally intended for the city offices and the police department. Now will only be used for the police department. Herceg said the property has great potential if the more city offices move there.
Warsaw Mayor Ernie Wiggins said, for the time being, the city will stay in the same building. If the city were to move out there it would require adding a second story or adding a second building.
Wiggins thought it would be more cost effective to have minimal renovation for the police department instead of moving all the city departments out there. The purchase price of the property was $517,500, which the council considered a good deal.
Wiggins said he wasn't going to say the city departments won't be moving in the future. He doesn't know what the plans are at this point.
Councilwoman Trish Brown said she believes the plans are a cost effective way to deal with a lot of problems. She said she didn't see any problem with having a lot of space with no plans for using it all. Government changes all the time and extra space could be a good thing.
Wiggins said the council has to be comfortable with the plans because they will be authorizing the funds to renovate the building. Overall, the council was pretty comfortable with Herceg's presentation of the plans.
The Warsaw Board of Works met after the council meeting approving a Bruner Construction contract.
Bruner was chosen to renovate the garage at the former NIPSCO site. Wiggins said the garage is too big to be used for just the police department so it will bisected. The other half will be used to store equipment, possibly for the Warsaw Street Department.
The members of the Warsaw City Council are: President Jerry Patterson, Brown, Jeff Grose, Charlie Smith, Joe Thallemer, Bill Rhoades and George Clemens.
The members of the Warsaw Board of Works are: Wiggins, Charlie Smith and Jerry Patterson. [[In-content Ad]]
The Warsaw City Council received an update on the former NIPSCO building Wednesday.
Ken Herceg of Herceg and Associates, the engineering and architectural company working on the renovation design for the building, gave a report during a special meeting.
The property, located behind Owen's on Center Street, has a main office building, a garage and plenty of parking, according to Herceg. Renovation for the main office building will consist mainly of basic drywall and painting, adding heating and cooling and installation of a new roof, he said.
The new police department site will eliminate congestion in the current building it shares with the mayor and clerk offices. Once the police department moves, the clerk's office in the city building can be expanded. There will be no jail facilities or victims' center at the new police department. It will be able to accommodate a holding cell if necessary.
DARE officers will also be incorporated into the new building. They are currently not in the police department.
The NIPSCO property was originally intended for the city offices and the police department. Now will only be used for the police department. Herceg said the property has great potential if the more city offices move there.
Warsaw Mayor Ernie Wiggins said, for the time being, the city will stay in the same building. If the city were to move out there it would require adding a second story or adding a second building.
Wiggins thought it would be more cost effective to have minimal renovation for the police department instead of moving all the city departments out there. The purchase price of the property was $517,500, which the council considered a good deal.
Wiggins said he wasn't going to say the city departments won't be moving in the future. He doesn't know what the plans are at this point.
Councilwoman Trish Brown said she believes the plans are a cost effective way to deal with a lot of problems. She said she didn't see any problem with having a lot of space with no plans for using it all. Government changes all the time and extra space could be a good thing.
Wiggins said the council has to be comfortable with the plans because they will be authorizing the funds to renovate the building. Overall, the council was pretty comfortable with Herceg's presentation of the plans.
The Warsaw Board of Works met after the council meeting approving a Bruner Construction contract.
Bruner was chosen to renovate the garage at the former NIPSCO site. Wiggins said the garage is too big to be used for just the police department so it will bisected. The other half will be used to store equipment, possibly for the Warsaw Street Department.
The members of the Warsaw City Council are: President Jerry Patterson, Brown, Jeff Grose, Charlie Smith, Joe Thallemer, Bill Rhoades and George Clemens.
The members of the Warsaw Board of Works are: Wiggins, Charlie Smith and Jerry Patterson. [[In-content Ad]]