The Kilgore City Council has approved a contract with a design firm to create a building design for a new Public Works Service Center.
Earlier this month, council members unanimously approved the agreement with Dallas-based BRW Architects for a plan to replace the decades-old facilities in the the city yard with a new structure.
Director of Public Works Clay Evers told council members about the plan.
“This is for the design contract with BRW Architects, who are the architects who performed the conceptual design for the public works service center, in addition to a conceptual design for Fire Station No. 1,” Evers said.
“The contract is reasonable in its fees and carries services all the way through construction. Let me just say, I am personally excited about the prospect of having a nice facility for our staff that work out in the field.”
According to the text of the council’s communication report, the new center will make it easier for city employees and work crews to complete their daily tasks.
“The facilities in the City Yard are failing and have outlived their useful life,” the report read.
“Many of the structures date back to the 30’s and 40’s when the area was an oil field yard. It has become too expensive to maintain these facilities and the employees who work out of the yard do not have suitable work spaces anymore. Last year, BRW was commissioned to develop conceptual schematics and floor plans, as well as a cost estimate, for a Public Works Service Center. This contract is for their services to take the service center through full design to construction. They are estimating 6 months to design and a 15 month construction time.”
Last summer, City Manager Josh Selleck described the goals of the project to council.
“The Public Works Service Center would replace a number of buildings in the back (of city hall) and allow for our wastewater and street staff to have access to proper restrooms where they can clean off and change before going home to their loved ones,” Selleck said.
“All of them are exposed to contaminants and pathogens in their daily work, and it’s probably one of our only crews that doesn’t have access to the facilities that we believe they need. That’s anticipated to be somewhere between an 8- and 10,000 square-foot facility.”
