Anyone who has been in the area of Garden Street and Tooele City Hall has noticed big things are happening at the site of the future home of the Tooele City Police Department.
A masonry wall has been constructed that will encompass more secure areas of the new police station, including the sally port and records. The aluminum frame of the rest of the building is mostly complete as well, according to Tooele City Engineer Paul Hansen during a presentation to the City Council on Sept. 4.
Hansen shared aerial shots of the 21,000-square-foot police station using a drone by Big-D Construction, the contractor on the project. By the beginning of October, the roof is expected to be completed on the station and ancillary building, which is also under construction.
The police station should be weather-tight by the end of October or early November, so work can continue inside the building over the winter away from snow and other weather. Hansen said masonry work on the police station should also be completed by the end of October, while curb and gutter should be finished by early November.
The first few months of work at the site on Garden Street were underground, so it didn’t look like much was happening, Hansen said. It will be a similar feel once work heads indoors over the winter, but for now, the changes are noticeable.
“Things are moving right now very quickly,” Hansen said. “Progress is in that great phase where you can look at it every day and see something happen.”
Construction is still on pace to beat the occupancy goal of mid-March, with it looking possible the project will be done a couple weeks earlier, according to Hansen.
The Tooele City Council approved an $8.46 million guaranteed maximum contract with Big-D Construction in March, which included a 3% contingency for unexpected circumstances and 3.5% in costs that are not guaranteed to be necessary. Hansen said the first contingency can be affected by changes in the price of materials, while the other is for any modifications the city may deem necessary.
“So as of today, we are $330,00 still below budget on that amount,” Hansen said. “That does not include the five percent you authorized as additional seed contingency. We have not touched that.”
The project is about halfway to its anticipated completion date, with 30% of the contract cost spent. Hansen said that’s typical for a project like the police station and everything is on track.
The police department’s move into its current location on Main Street was intended to be temporary when it occurred more than 30 years ago. The new facility will be at least 5,000 square feet larger, without some issues plaguing the current building — which is a former auto parts store — such as insufficient bathroom facilities and a leaking roof.