Adams officials want their new municipal building to look like a barn without actually being one.
Ground will be broken on the new building at 11 a.m. Saturday on a 5-acre plot. The facility along Valencia Road is designed to look something like a barn, with a gambrel roof and cupola.
The similarities between officials' present facilities — which operate out of a grafted-together grange and garage — and the new barnlike structure should end there.
The new 26,400-square foot, three-floor building is expected to be built at a cost of about $3 million to house police, several township administrators and possibly the water authority. No date has been set for the start of construction, township officials said.
Project architect Gabriel Kaclik, of Ben Avon Heights, said a firm date could be established in the next two weeks.
Bids for the construction were awarded to:
The project is about $300,000 under budget so far, Kaclik said. Most of the fixed costs, however, have not been calculated yet.
The township saved a considerable amount on the general contract. UHL Construction was the lowest of 11 bidders by about $200,000.
The structure, with 8,800 square feet on each of three floors, will be built into the side of a hill, with a ground floor serving the police department.
Kaclik has said the third floor would be undeveloped but finished. The floor would be ready for expansion if the township ever needed it.
The building has office space allocated to several township administrators. The building also will have space for the township's water authority, but there has not been a decision to move that office from its location in Mars.
Many township officials have said the municipal building does not have enough space for a growing staff — four full-time and five part-time police officers; eight full-time township employees; and two part-time office employees.
Supervisors Chairman Don Aiken has said the township has saved $1.5 million on the building. Officials said they hope some of the building's cost can be offset by a grant from the state Department of Community and Economic Development. The township will take out a loan to foot the remainder of the bill.
Kaclik said the building's appearance will match the rural setting of the park. The park has a 1.3-mile walking trail, two baseball fields, a soccer field and three picnic pavilions.
