Road Department expansion ready to go
BENTONVILLE — Benton County’s Road Department moved into a new shop, an upgrade from the more than 50-year-old building it was using, officials said.
The county added 4,600 square feet to its 9,000-square-foot building known as the welding shop, said Bryan Beeson, county facilities administrator.
The county received the certificate of occupancy from the city last week, and items are being moved between buildings, Beeson said. The Road Department yard is on Southwest 14th Street near the Benton County Jail.
Oelke Construction handled the expansion for $249,996, Beeson said. The project was part of the 2020 budget. Construction started July 2.
The structural steel addition has three bay doors with an oil change pit, Beeson said. All maintenance for Road Department equipment, from major overhauls to preventive work, will be done in the new area, he said.
“It’s a matter of getting moved and getting the bays opened,” he said.
Department administration staff moved earlier this year to the Bogle Building in front of the Road Department. It also houses the public defender, veteran services and county extension office, said
Channing Barker, county communications director. That 18,840-square-foot building was built in 1979, Beeson said.
Beeson gave a tour of the Road Department buildings in fall 2019 to show justices of the peace the need for an improved work space. Justice of the Peace Susan Anglin took part in the tour.
“The expansion/remodel of the Road Department will have a positive impact in providing better work space for mechanical projects and the ongoing maintenance on road equipment,” Anglin said. “We have a lot of dollars invested in equipment that will also have better protection from the weather.”
The county plans to add a 2,000-square-foot tire shop to the expansion some time next year, Beeson said. He expects the project to be bid in February and work to start in the spring. The cost is estimated at $53,000, Beeson said.
Demolition work on a crumbling 8,080-squarefoot building at the Road Department built in 1965 should start the week of
Jan. 4, Beeson said. The county plans to do the demo work, he said. The county plans to later add canopies over the naked cement slab, Beeson said.
The roof needed to be replaced as did the heating and air-conditioning system. There were electrical and plumbing deficiencies and the walls had major cracks, Beeson said. He described it as a worn-out building past its service life by several years. It was too costly to repair and cheaper to do the expansion, he said.
“I’m thrilled with the new Road Department expansion,” County Judge Barry Moehring said. “Our previous facilities were decades old, leaking, wornout and beyond repair. We made use of existing space for the needs of the front office folks and then built a modest extension on an existing building that will allow a much roomier and safer work environment for the mechanics and other employees who service our equipment.
“We kept the cost down and, with the support of the Quorum Court, we paid for the expansion within our existing Road Department budget.”
The Road Department budget is $12.4 million.
Another aging county building also recently met its demise via demolition. The unused 5,000-squarefoot structure that went up in the early 1970s next the historic courthouse was torn down as part of a $3.1 million courthouse expansion downtown.