Va. Beach to renovate building from mass shooting
VIRGINIA BEACH — Building
2 of the municipal center — abandoned after the mass shooting on May 31, 2019 — will be renovated soon.
City officials this week released millions of dollars for several projects that had been on hold during the pandemic, including money to refurbish the building where 12 people were killed and four were critically injured.
“These projects were teed up and ready to go,” said Deputy City Manager David Bradley. “We just decided, let’s be extra cautious.”
The City Council hit “go” on the projects on Tuesday after Alice Kelly, director of finance, explained that general fund revenues are on track.
Three buildings at the city complex in Princess Anne will be renovated over the next several years at a cost of $83 million, funded by public facility revenue bonds. Of that, $30 million was released Tuesday.
The renovations will bring about 200 people who have been working from home or temporary offices back to a central location.
A design-build team to perform the work will be selected next week, said Tom Nicholas, the city’ s public works facilities engineer.
Building 2 could reopen by spring 2022, he said. A new city hall is under construction at the municipal center and will open in fall 2021. Building 1 will then be refurbished to house planning and public utilities, two city departments that work hand in hand, particularly for contractors seeking permits to perform work in the city.
“For the public, that’s huge because they’re back in the municipal center, and they’re together,” Nicholas said. Building 11 also will be renovated and will become home to public works and a portion of information technology. Both could be ready by 2024 or possibly earlier, Nicholas said. “We don’t want to wait any longer, and if this is moving Building 2 forward, we definitely need to do this,” councilwoman Barbara Henley said.
The City Council also released $7.8 million for construction of a new fire station in Burton Station and for the purchase of a new police helicopter.
According to Bradley, the fire station was delayed when the city eliminated new hires from its budget last spring. The new station will have 30 firefighters and six paramedics. It will take 14 months to build. The police will replace one of its two helicopters with a new one. The purchase was put on hold in March. The price has dropped by about $200,000 since then. It will cost $4.5 million. In January, when real estate taxes are factored into the city’s finances, Bradley will return to the council to address 14 other projects that are on hold, totaling an additional $21.8 million, he said. new hi res from its