When Montgomery County’s division chief for the Department of General Services described the new Silver Spring library as a real priority project for the county, he wasn’t just talking. The county has been swiftly moving forward and is set to announce that a general contractor, Costello Construction, has been picked to build the new structure. The Columbia, Md.-based company also built Silver Spring’s much-lauded civic building at Veterans Plaza, which means its representatives have experience working with city and county officials, the community, and local utility companies.
“The lowest bidder was Costello, and they were within the budgeted amount, so the contract will be awarded to them,” said Susanne Churchill, the senior architect and project manager with the county’s Department of General Services. “They really wanted the project.” The bidding process closed on November 7, and the contractor was recently chosen. The next steps should occur quite rapidly. The county and company are currently hammering out administrative details, and the company should begin work a few days after that. But observers might not notice much activity on the site at first, as the company gears up for construction by purchasing trailers and renting equipment. That should be just in time for the holidays, delaying the start date a bit. “This is a bad time, but one way or the other, we’ve started conversations about first steps, and they’ll probably be starting in January,” said Churchill.
When it’s finished, the city will have a new downtown library that’s almost four times bigger than the current one. A five-story building with a glass curtain wall that crosses above the Purple Line’s path, the structure will include an arts center on the first two floors and expanded meeting spaces, a computer lab, and a larger children’s section on the top three.
The project should be done by late 2014.
Silver Spring, Maryland, real estate development news
7 comments:
Good. Costello: please select a subcontractor who knows how to actually pour concrete properly.
Sincerely,
everyone who has to walk the long way around the SS transit center twice a day.
Late 2014 completion?
That's ambitious to say the least. I hate to be cynical, but given the track record of other recent Silver Spring projects (cough cough the transit center), I'd say end of 2015 at the earliest. But I hope I'm wrong.
Awsome!
@Rebecca
2014 sounds about right. Foulger-Pratt might suck at staying on schedule, but the Civic Building (built by Costello) went up virtually overnight.
Also, 2 years is about the average construction time for all those 15-20 story high-rise residential buildings around Silver Spring, and the library's only 5 stories.
Whats the projected heating/cooling cost for this building - I doubt it meets the energy code
have no fear anonymous #1, Costello Construction pours its own concrete and we will insure that our work exceeds compliance. And Rebecca, we have a great relationship with the County and the Arch. We will finish on schedule. and thanks for noticing the speed in which Civic went up anonymous. and lastly, the County and Engineer designed a super efficient HVAC system. I can guarantee it exceeds all energy efficiency requirements. david c
Costello you suck, CFD is way behind!!! and for the concrete, today it was raining and still pouring with Mexicans holding plastic up. I know, I live on summit and it pisses me off the works can't park onsite, instead they are parked in my front yard. FU!
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