Next step due Monday for new Lock Haven police department building

LOCK HAVEN, PA – City Council is to vote Monday night on hiring Buchart Horn Architects to provide architectural design and engineering services to develop bid documents leading to construction of a new building for Lock Haven’s police department.

Council earlier this month, on a 5-2 vote, approved a first draft to “pursue the plan to build a new City Police Department facility” on the eastern portion of the city’s upper E. Church Street municipal parking lot.

Per the architectural firm’s proposal to be voted on Monday, the construction budget shall not exceed $2 million, with alternatives suggested as needed to adjust the scope of the project as needed.

Timeline, according to Buchart Horn, would be five weeks to complete a schematic, three months for completion of final design, two months from final design to the bidding and awarding of a construction contract and a nine-month construction period; that timeline, if met, would mean the new building would be completed sometime late in 2024.

Buchart Horn’s fee is listed at $174,800. The building would be one story with steel stud framing and a masonry veneer; a sloped roof with architectural singles is proposed.

City government had looked at several other prospective sites for a new police headquarters and proposed the parking lot location several months ago. Officials have indicated they anticipate a $1-million grant to go towards the project costs.