Recordpub.com - Firm to give estimate on courthouse: Commissioners eyeing new building in Kent

By Mike Sever

Record-Courier staff writer

A Cleveland architecture firm has been hired to estimate the cost of a new free-standing courthouse facility in Kent, a decision apparently made without consulting the judges who will use it.

County commissioners took the action by 2-1 vote last week, hiring Richard L. Bowen & Associates at a cost of $13,800 to conduct a planning, engineering and architectural study.

The panel held no interviews with the three firms that submitted proposals. Nor did commissioners discuss the proposals with Municipal Court Judge Barbara Oswick and Clerk of Courts Linda Fankhauser, who are on the committee planning the new courthouse.

The Bowen firm was chosen over Brandstetter Carroll Zofcin Inc. of Cleveland, which priced the study at $14,000; and Hasenstab Architects, Inc./David L. Sommers, which set a fee of $11,865.

Bowen’s proposal was identical, except for the fee, to the scope of services in the “qualifications to provide architectural services” submitted by Brandstetter in April.

Commissioners Chuck Keiper and Chris Smeiles voted to hire Bowen while Commissioner Maureen Frederick voted no.

Keiper moved to hire Bowen, because the county had not done any work with the firm recently.

“I thought the bottom line was, it should be done in consultation with the judges,” Frederick said. “I think they should have been in the loop and consulted before the decision was made. I thought perhaps we could have considered some others. Why start out without consulting the judges?”

Municipal Court Judge Barbara Oswick said the vote caught her by surprise.

“I was not contacted and was unaware it was even being considered at this point,” she said. “I was unaware of it until I called JoAnn Townend (director of Internal Services) to add two names of architects who designed local courthouses to the list of potential architects.”

Oswick was backing Brandstetter to do the study. The firm designed the new Stow Municipal Courthouse along with a number of other court facilities in Ohio, and she was impressed with their work.

Brandstetter submitted a list of 43 court and public administration buildings its has been involved with, including 18 in Ohio. Commissioners had Internal Services Director JoAnn Townend solicit two more proposals.

Both Bowen and Hasenstab/Sommers have been architects on county projects. Hasenstab/Sommers designed the renovation of the county courthouse in Ravenna and did a master planning study for the county in 2004. David Sommers updated that study in 2008.

Employees of the firms also have been campaign contributors to Keiper and Smeiles.

County and Kent government leaders have been talking about a joint courthouse and city safety services building for more than two years without identifying a site or time frame for construction. Officials have been saying the joint project would save money for both users.

Oswick asked how the county knew it would save money with a joint project if it did not know how much a free-standing courthouse could cost.

Judges started collecting money for a new courthouse a couple years ago by imposing a special court fee. That fund now has about $2 million in it.

The court currently is housed in a former 1930s-era post office on South Water Street in downtown Kent.

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E-mail:

msever@recordpub.com

Phone: 330 298-1125