Council accepts bid for construction of first phase of public works facility
Published 10:36 am Friday, December 6, 2024
- Lake Charles City Hall
Construction on the new Lake Charles Public Works facility will begin in January 2025.
At the City Council meeting on Wednesday, the council unanimously approved a bid for phase one of the new 15,4000 square foot public works facility that will be located on the corner of Broad Street and Legion Street across from Oak Street, Lake Charles Public Works Director Stacy Dowden told the American Press.
At the Council meeting, Lake Charles Mayor Nic Hunter called the project one of the “silver linings” of the hurricanes of 2020 and 2021, stating discussions for a new public works facility have been had for “decades,” citing upgrades and add-ons have been “willy-nilly built” through the decades.
“It means that when you build back after a storm, you don’t necessarily always want to put things exactly where they were before,” he said.
“A lot of the men and women have been working in some buildings that have been dilapidated for many years, even pre-Hurricane Laura, but post-Hurricane Laura, buildings that really need some love.”
The project would not have been possible without the FEMA 428 Program, he said. Phase one is set to cost $8,000,000. The estimated total cost of the project is $30,000,000. For the full project, the FEMA 428 Recovery program will contribute $14 million.
A total of $7.5 million will come from state capital outlay, $4 million for an additional state captial outlay request and $5 million from the city (or potential future funding sources.)
Hunter said the “state-of-the-art” facilities will be a model for fortified buildings.
“It is going to last for 100 years and it truly is an example of us building back to a new level of resiliency.”
The bid approved by the council was for $7,630,000 to Russel Stutes Construction Company, LLC.
Phase one of the project includes the construction of the administration building and parking; employee parking; site storm drainage; a sewer lift station; and access driveways from Broad Street and Avenue J.
Phase one of the project is anticipated to be complete by early spring 2026.
