Centre County’s Board of Commissioners on Tuesday voted unanimously to award more than $26.4 million in bids to four prime contractors for a major overhaul of the former Centre Crest building in Bellefonte.
The renovation will convert the 86-year-old building into a hub for county human services departments. The county has been working on plans for the former nursing home facility since it was vacated in September 2021, when Centre Crest residents moved to the new Centre Care in College Township.
The four prime contracts totaling $26,434,910 are:
• General trades – G.M. McCrossin Inc., $13,097,410
• HVAC – Ainsworth-Enginuity, $6,449,000
• Plumbing – Ainsworth-Enginuity, $2,437,000
• Electrical – Hallstrom-Clark Electric, $4,451,500
Each was the low bidder in an open bidding process.
The county previously hired MG Architects and Massaro Construction Management Services, and authorized a related $1.4 million contract for roof replacement at the facility, bringing the total project cost right around the estimated $29.2 million authorized by the board in April 2022.
Commissioners Mark Higgins and Amber Concepcion credited MG, Massaro and county staff and administrators for pulling the project together within the projected budget.
“The architect did a great job. In fact, I believe several of the contractors complimented his level of detail,” Higgins said. “And, of course, working with a construction management firm is critical for projects of this relatively large size. Glad to hear that things came in fairly close to budget estimates.”
The county issued $40 million in general obligation bonds in June 2022 to finance capital projects, including about $30 million for the Centre Crest renovations, and refunding debt. About $3 million in additional county funds were also set aside for the project, along with smaller renovation projects at the Willowbank building and courthouse.
A feasibility study performed in 2022 determined that the 118,00-square-foot building at 502 E. Howard St. was structurally sound and that investments could provide a central home for human services departments, freeing up crowded space in the Willowbank Building and moving some departments out of scattered leased offices.
No additions are planned for the property, and work will include gutting and renovating the interior, replacing mechanical, electrical and plumbing systems and other improvements.
County officials previously said they are aiming for the renovated building to open in the summer of 2025.
The prime contract bids are among the first awarded since commissioners passed by a 2-1 margin a controversial Responsible Contractor Ordinance (RCO) in June 2023. The ordinance established new requirements for contractors to be eligible to bid on county government-owned construction projects of $250,000 or more, including that 70% of the craft labor workforce be journeypersons, workers who have completed a state- or federally-approved apprenticeship training or those currently enrolled in such programs.
It also prohibits bids from being awarded to contractors who in the past three years have been convicted of a crime, had a contracting license or certificate revoked, defaulted on any project or been found in violation of any law applicable to their contracting businesses.
The ordinance, as well as prevailing wage requirements, further extend to off-site custom fabrication for non-standard goods and materials for a project.
Opponents argued otherwise qualified local, nonunion contractors with workers who have years of experience and non-apprenticeship training would be disqualified from bidding on large county government projects. Some contended it would cause the cost of county construction projects to rise, or that some projects would not receive qualified bidders.
Commissioner Steve Dershem was the lone dissenting vote against the RCO last June, and in December voted against the advertising bidding for the Centre Crest project because of the ordinance.
“I don’t think it’s fair to our local contractors, and I don’t think it’s fair to the tradesmen that live here in Centre County,” Dershem said in December.
Dershem, however, voted in favor of approving the bids on Tuesday and did not offer comment.
G.M. McCrossin, the general trades contractor accounting for about 50% of the bid awards, is based in Bellefonte. Ainsworth-Enginuity is based in Mechanicsburg and owned by Canadian firm GDI, while Hallstrom-Clark Electric is based in DuBois.
