GREENFIELD — Architects for the fire station planned for Main Street presented a revised cost estimate for the project on Thursday, representing a slight increase over the estimate provided earlier this year.
According to Katrina Pacheco with Pacheco Ross Architects, the estimated cost of the project has increased from about $12.1 million to $12.275 million.
“This is based on the drawings we had done a month ago, maybe a little more,” Pacheco explained to the Fire Station Building Committee at its meeting on Thursday. “The site work was more refined, so that number has gone down. The cost for the square footage of the building has gone up, but that was not a surprise.”
She added that the cost estimate remains in the ballpark of the $12.1 million budget for construction. A more firm estimate is expected as the city prepares to go out to bid in a few weeks.
The overall $17 million budget for the fire station, slated to be built on Main Street near Coombs Avenue, includes roughly $2 million for the construction of the temporary fire station on Hope Street, in addition to construction for the new station, professional fees and contingency funds. The temporary fire station, which the department moved into in September, is expected to be used for two years.
Project Manager Neil Joyce added that “market volatility is still a very real thing.”
“We’re keeping our fingers crossed that we have a conservative estimate in front of us,” Joyce said. “We’re still seeing projects that are bid very aggressively and numbers that are coming in very high. It’s a crapshoot right now. I think what we get will depend on how competitive the individual bidders are.”
The Fire Station Building Committee plans to vote to go out to bid at its June 16 meeting, subject to no appeal on the special permit granted by the Zoning Board of Appeals last week.
Reporter Mary Byrne can be reached at mbyrne@recorder.com or 413-930-4429. Twitter: @MaryEByrne