The question architects and contractors are pondering before submitting bids Jan. 26: Can the new Cape Girardeau police station be renovated and built for $11 million?

Eleven million dollars is the budget cap placed on the project by the city for the new station planned for a renovated Naval Reserve Center in Arena Park. Prospective contractors who have examined the site question whether it can be completed within that budget.

Project manager Anna Kangas said a primary reason the city is conducting a design-build process is because preliminary plans set forth by FGM Architects estimated a cost between $12 million and $15 million for the project.

“They’re still analyzing the cost breakdown,” architect Louis Chiodini, whose Chiodini Architects firm plans to bid on the project, said of his contracting partner, Kiefner Brothers Construction. “Everyone is going to be analyzing (the FGM plan) to see if it was any good.”

The new police department is projected to be about 46,000 square feet, doubling the size of the Naval Reserve Center, Kangas said.

The former Naval Reserve building next to Arena Park is seen Tuesday in Cape Girardeau.Fred Lynch

Cape Girardeau Police Lt. John Davis said the jail and municipal court must be included in the same building.

Chiodini Architects and Kiefner Brothers of Cape Girardeau were two of 20 companies that attended the mandatory walk-through for the project Jan. 5 but were among just a few who did a follow-up walk through later that day. Davis said he conducted another voluntary walk-through last week that allowed companies to measure inside the existing building.

Chiodini, based in St. Louis, has experience building stations for Bridgeton and Maryland Heights police departments in the St. Louis region, which are similar in size to Cape Girardeau.

Louis Chiodini said his firm was working on the bid this week.

“We do these kind of projects all the time,” Chiodini said.

A proposed site plan From FGM Architects for the Cape Girardeau police station near Arena Park.Submitted

WSKF Architects of Kansas City, Missouri, also went through a voluntary walk-through, and owner Rick Kuhl said his company’s estimate for construction was $11 million but did not include design plans, furniture or hazardous-material mitigation.

Davis said city inspectors will check the building next week for asbestos on the elbow joints of pipes.

WSKF Architects will not bid for the project, Kuhl said.

“I think it will be very difficult to meet the $11 million budget,” he said. “During the walk-through, it was explained to us that the $11 million figure was all inclusive.”

Kuhl said the FGM plan may have underestimated the cost based on the needs of the police department with the proposal.

Davis said the department has not yet determined capacity requirements for the jail and will wait for bids to be submitted.

“They told us they had to have a minimum of 36 cells, and they wanted 40,” Kuhl said.

Curt Crossland, owner of Crossland Construction based near Joplin, Missouri, also said the $11 million budget was untenable, and renovating the existing building might add costs because of demolition and new wiring and plumbing. Crossland Construction also will not bid on the project, he said.

“We’d have to demo everything inside that building,” Crossland said. “What are you saving in keeping the building?”

Cape Girardeau owns the building and the land.

Kangas emphasized the FGM Architect plans are preliminary, and FGM, being one of the companies to attend voluntary and mandatory walk-throughs, might submit a bid that is completely different. FGM completed the preliminary plans for the project in November 2013.

After bids are submitted, the city will select the top three projects and conduct interviews beginning Feb. 15, Kangas said.

“We’ll know a lot more after Tuesday,” she said.

bkleine@semissourian.com

(573) 388-3644

Pertinent address:

2520 Maria Louise Lane, Cape Girardeau, Mo.