Cape Girardeau County Commissioners selected the Penzel Construction Design-Build Team on Sept. 14 to design and build the new Cape Girardeau County Courthouse in Jackson. The team consists of design partner TreanorHL Architects of Kansas City as well as local engineers and subcontractors.
The 82,000-square-foot courthouse and underground parking facility will include six new courtrooms and will be constructed on the corner of N. Missouri Street and W. Washington Street, adjacent to the Cape Girardeau County Sheriff’s Office & Justice Center.
Penzel and TreanorHL were up against River City Construction, which has three locations, including one in Benton, IL, and the architectural firm HOK in St. Louis.
Both teams submitted proposals to the County Commission on Aug. 31. The county first scored the technical design proposals before opening the financial proposals and judging them based on cost.
Penzel/TreanorHL received 56 of 60 technical points, whereas River City/HOK received 46 points. Penzel received more points for its project management approach, project design and its approach to quality.
Both proposals received the full 40 points for their financial scores. Both submitted plans that cost exactly what was budgeted by the Commission, which was $18 million.
Each team also submitted potential additive costs that the County could choose to add to the project. Penzel/TreanorHL submitted an additive bid for an additional courtroom at $225,650 and an additive bid for IT Department space at $229,600. River City/HOK also submitted additive bids at $117,000 and $54,000, respectively.
The county commissioners thanked both teams for their hard work on the project. They added that the project was especially difficult with the budget of $18 million and the long wish list for the project. The commissioners also noted that this is a historic moment for the county.
“It was 1908 when we last built a courthouse – that’s a long time,” Commissioner Charlie Herbst said. “Previous to that the courthouse was built in 1854, actually by the federal government and we kind of inherited it through that process.”
The county will now begin negotiations with the Penzel/TreanorHL team to put together a final contract.
“A lot of effort went into this proposal process and it is exciting to be able move into the construction phase,” Penzel Construction CEO Phil Penzel said. “I am very proud of our team and am honored to have been chosen to construct this important facility.”
Other recent municipal projects completed by Penzel include the Cape Girardeau SportsPlex and Cape Girardeau Firehouse No. 4.
TreanorHL has extensive experience in planning, programming and design specifically geared toward justice facilities. “Our Design-Build Team worked to provide a courthouse design that is respectful of the importance of the court, while making effective and efficient use of the tax-payers’ resources,” Andy Pitts, principal at TreanorHL, said.
According to Commissioner Paul Koeper, foundation work could begin as early as late October, with a March 30, 2020, projected completion date.
In other action:
The county commission approved a capital improvement plan on Sept. 17. The plan, which covers the next five years, will be uses when making fiscal decisions during the budgeting process and will ensure that future capital projects are competed in a properly funded and timely manner.
Projects scheduled for 2019-2024 are the new county courthouse, communication towers for dispatching and the jail, new election equipment, HVAC improvements and improvements to the lake in Cape Girardeau County Park South. The plan also includes funding sources for each project.
The commission will review the plan annually, according to a policy adopted earlier this month.
