Fairfield Council discusses demolition of DOT buildings

FAIRFIELD — The Fairfield City Council took another step toward demolishing the former Department of Transportation buildings on West Griggs Avenue during its meeting Monday night.

The city plans to demolish the buildings at 301-307 W. Briggs Ave. to make room for a new fire station, which Fairfield voters approved last year. At the council’s meeting Monday, Feb. 13, the councilors voted to approve the drawings and specifications that a contractor will follow when demolishing the buildings. The council also set a public hearing for the drawings and specifications for demolition at 7 p.m. Monday, March 13.

Fairfield City Engineer and Public Works Director Melanie Carlson told the council that the winning bidder could salvage the buildings or a portion thereof to resell if they chose. The winning bidder would have to demolish both buildings, remove underground concrete from the former high school located there, and remove asbestos before demolition.

Council member Elizabeth Estey asked Carlson why the city wasn’t requiring the contractor to salvage the east building, the one that could be moved elsewhere. Carlson said this would have complicated the process, since it would have required the city to hire three separate contractors, one to abate the asbestos, one to salvage the east building, and one to demolish the rest. She said it was better and simpler to leave the decision to salvage in the hands of one contractor.

“Maybe they’ll haul it off wall by wall, rather than using it as a whole building,” Carlson said. “They might think of a better solution than what we could specify.”

Council member Tom Twohill said that having one contractor do everything would be more efficient. Carlson agreed, saying that the contractor would have to pay a landfill for all the material they couldn’t salvage.

“Anything they [salvage] is to their benefit,” Carlson said.

Once the former DOT buildings are demolished this spring, construction on the new fire station will begin and should take 1-1.5 years, with the fire department moving into its new location in 2024.

Call Andy Hallman at 641-575-0135 or email him at andy.hallman@southeastiowaunion.com