BLAKE FAITH BREAKING GROUND - Kraus-Anderson workers and some of City Staff pictured above at the ground-breaking of the new PUblic Works facility.

FAIRMONT — After six years, the city of Fairmont has begun the construction of a brand new Public Works Facility at a cost of roughly $8.8 million, with work to be done by Kraus-Anderson. The groundbreaking ceremony officially took place on Thursday at the new location at 801 E. Margret Street in Fairmont.

The site and building analysis factors to restore the facility included expansion challenges, soil corrections, costs to bring the building up to code, overhead clearance, and space requirements. Design options included eliminating the wash bay, reducing square footage in the parking garage, and alternating construction types.

Designed by ISG Architects, the 58,360 square-foot building features a large storage and parking garage for vehicles, a maintenance shop, welding shop, sign shop, and employee office space. In addition, the project will replace HVAC systems, upgrade the mechanical cooling systems in the administrative areas and add new energy-efficient interior and exterior lighting. Construction is anticipated to be completed by the spring of 2022.

The history of the idea of this new building goes back to 2015. The current facility was assessed in 2015 and found the project needs that were defined in a presentation done at a January 11 Fairmont city council work session.

Originally for the current facility architecturally, the needs were to salvage the 1975 addition with minimal interior renovations and demolish the 1967 building to make room for additions to include a vehicle parking garage, mechanical shop, welding shop, sign shop, and administration.

Mechanically, the needs were to replace heating and ventilation systems with new systems, consider adding mechanical cooling systems in offices and break rooms and other needs with a new water service and flammable waste traps.

Electrically, the needs were to upgrade the break rooms and restrooms to energy-efficient lighting, replace noncompliant exit signs with illuminated ones, and replace exterior lighting with low-maintenance energy-efficient options.