DeFelice lays out timeline for MCHD relocation
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MORGANTOWN - With a July 1, 2027 deadline looming for the Monongalia County Health Department to be out of its current facilities and moved into its new home at White Birch Towers, time is of the essence.
That window tightens considerably when you consider the estimated $10 million renovation project needed to prepare White Birch Tower II for MCHD's arrival has yet to begin.
MCHD Executive Director Anthony DeFelice recently walked the Monongalia County Board of Health through the current working timeline.
"So, we completed the floor plans a few weeks ago; actually, the end of August, August 28. In the last month, the architects have been working on the mechanical drawings, the CAD drawings. Those are supposed to be done, I think, by October 5th. And then, after the CAD drawings are done, they will start the bidding process," he said, explaining it's expected the project will be awarded Nov. 6.
"So, then the clock starts ticking for renovations," he said.
The current timeline would have construction running from Nov. 16 to June 1, leaving the month of June for the health department to get moved in and operational in the new space.
Between the $6 million WVU Medicine is paying the county to purchase the property the health department currently sits on, and the additional $9 million WVU Medicine announced it was providing the county, "in support of public health initiatives," the commission has $15 million to work with.
It's spending $4.1 million to purchase the White Birch property.
Last month, Silling Associates, the architectural firm leading the renovation project, provided the commission an estimate of $10 million to renovate about 35,000 square feet of the building's interior to get it ready for the health department. That estimate included more than $1 million in contingencies that may or may not be needed.
The project also includes a new, reinforced roof, an HVAC system and exterior work including cleaning the building, painting the upper portion and placing new signage.
In the short term, the next major milestone is bid opening slated for early November. That's when the county will actually know what it's looking at in terms of the overall cost of the relocation.
All parties involved are hopeful the project will draw a lot of interest.
"I will say that I feel pretty good that we're going to get a lot of bidders on this job. Where we're located, and the size of it, I think the bigger ones are going to go after it, and the smaller companies are going to go after it. That helps us," Marie McCauley, with Silling Associates, told the county commission in August. "But as far as the schedule, we need to keep going."