Renovation of NL City Hall remains on hold with lack of funding

New London — With a funding gap of $5 million, the timeline for the historical renovation of the aging and inefficient City Hall remains an unknown.

While the City Council approved borrowing $3 million for the project, the only bid came in last month at $8,018,000. The lone valid bidder for the project was Middletown-based Kronenberger & Sons.

“It’s just frustrating,” said City Council member Martha Marx during a Public Works Subcommittee meeting on Monday. “Everybody was so excited to have a new City Hall.”

Marx questioned the initial $2.5 million to $2.8 million estimate from Architectural Preservation Studio PC, which was based on a $30,000 grant-funded condition assessment completed in 2014.

Tom Bombria, project manager for the City Hall restoration project, said the city will continue to explore other funding sources for the project and is taking a closer look at the scope of the work.

Much had changed since the initial estimate, Bombria said. Along with jumps in construction and changing market conditions, he said building and fire code requirements helped boost the cost.

The original estimate also did not include architectural and engineering fees or the money needed to relocate the entire workforce from City Hall for a year or the construction of a vault for the City Clerk.

The asbestos abatement work also was underestimated. Asbestos contained in the plaster means contractors would need to contain and abate at multiple stages in the demolition work surrounding the movement of the elevator and walls and every time a wall is penetrated.

The planned work at City Hall, prompted by a citation from the health department in 2014 involves both interior and exterior restorations, Americans with Disabilities Act-compliant entrances and updating of the heating, cooling, electrical and plumbing systems.

Bombria said the city is working on a grant application to the State Historic Preservation Office for Connecticut Historic Rehabilitation Tax Credits and plans to apply to the National Park Service for federal historic preservation tax incentives.

Council member Michael Tranchida asked if a designation on the National Register of Historic Places might help the case. City Hall, build in 1912 to replace an older building on the same site, sits in an historic district, Bombria said, and so is therefore already eligible for preservation grants.

Bombria said the project eventually will go back out to bid but not until more funding sources are identified.

The planned work at City Hall involves both interior and exterior restorations, Americans with Disabilities Act-compliant entrances and updating of the heating, cooling, electrical and plumbing systems.