City of Largo Agenda Item 18
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In January, the City opened the new Largo Community Center at 400 Alternate Keene Road in Largo. As an aspect of the approved capital project, upon opening the new facility, the Facilities Management Division would then begin the process of demolishing the previous structure. The Office of Management & Budget conducted a bid process for the demolition of the Old Community Center Building on 4th Street NW in Largo's Downtown. Fifteen (15) Bids were received. After reviewing the submitted bids, staff is recommending award to Honc Destruction, the lowest bidder. If approved, staff will immediately begin the process of directing the vendor to demolish the structure. This project is expected to be completed within 45 days of notice to proceed. Upon completion the site will be graded level and hydroseeded with grass seed, creating a passive park setting. Sidewalks along the northern boundary of the site will be left in place for pedestrian access. As requested by the City Commission at the March 1, 2011 Commission Meeting, staff has returned this item for consideration with additional information and an analysis of the benefits of demolition of this structure. This information is attached to this memo.Presenter: Glenn Harwood, Facilities Manager PW Public Works TITLE: Department: $40,000.00 AWARD OF BID NO. 11B350, DEMOLITION OF COMMUNITY CENTER, TO HONC DESTRUCTION IN THE AMOUNT OF $37,444 Budgeted Amount: Budget
Page No(s).: Available Amount:
City Attorney Reviewed: Consistent With: Advisory Board Recommendation: Not Applicable Potential Motion/ Direction Requested: I MOVE TO APPROVE/DISAPPROVE AWARD OF BID NO. 11B350, DEMOLITION OF COMMUNITY CENTER, TO HONC DESTRUCTION IN THE AMOUNT OF $37,444.
Staff Contact: Glenn Harwood, Facilities Manager 7275867418 [email protected] Attachments: Bid Tabulation, Executive Summary Yes No N/A For Against N/A
04/05/11
Meeting Date
DTIF Funding Source(s): Budget Amendment Required: Source: Yes No Yes No N/A $40,000.00 Expenditure Amount: Sufficient Funds Available: Yes No N/A 184 $37,444.00 Additional BudgetaryFormer Community Center Executive Summary The FY 2011 Budget includes $40,000 for planned demolition of the former Community Center on 4th Street following completion of the new Community Center on Alternate Keene Road. At the City Commission Meeting of March 1, 2011, the City Commission postponed action on the award of demolition contract for the former Community Center building. The City Commission requested staff consider the reuse of the building as a new IT Data Center, housing computer servers and telecommunications equipment for the City. The City Commission also requested input from the City's Historical Preservation Advisory Committee (HPAC) and the Historical Society as to whether the building should be preserved due to its possible historic significance.
Staff has obtained information from the Public Works, Information Technology (IT), and Community Development Departments related to the City Commission's request, and the HPAC has convened to discuss this issue. Based on the information obtained, it is not recommended that the City pursue use of this building as an IT Data Center. Locating an IT Data Center at this site does not best meet the needs of the IT Department. Based on the size and current structural rating of the building, substantial modifications would be required that make the cost of retrofitting this building equal to or greater than new construction east of Alternate 19/CSX railroad tracks, in closer proximity to other major City facilities. Additionally, reuse of the building (in whole or in part) will disrupt the parcel assembly that has taken place over the past decade for the purposes of downtown redevelopment in accordance with the West Bay Drive–Community Redevelopment District Plan. The Chamber of Commerce has submitted correspondence supporting the demolition of the former Community Center, and the HPAC has stated that the structure has been substantially modified to where the building itself does not have historical significance in accordance with historical preservation criteria. It is staff's recommendation to proceed with the demolition of the former Community Center building and subsequently market the property for redevelopment as will be discussed at the upcoming City Commission Work Session on June 14, 2011. Public Works In March 2005, Facilities Management contracted with McCarthy and Associates to perform a preliminary structural evaluation of the building. At the time of the evaluation, the former Community Center consisted of the original building and a subsequent addition that was built to replace part of the facility that was destroyed by a fire. The addition/renovation was completed in 1990. The structural analysis was performed on both the multipurpose room addition and the renovated one story building. The findings of the report from the structural evaluation are summarized below, and a copy of the report is attached: Original building (west end, renovated 1990) • One story masonry structure with a flat roof. • Roof is constructed with steel beams, bar joists and metal deck. • Original drawings were not available limiting ability to calculate design capacity of the structure. Building addition (east end) • There does not appear to be any vertical reinforcement of the masonry load bearing walls.
• The roof structure consists of preengineered wood trusses, plywood sheeting, and metal tile shingles. • Wood trusses are secured to a wood top plate with a light gauge metal hurricane clip of minimal capacity. • Based on this review, the addition does not appear to meet wind load criteria required by the current (2005) building code. • Note: Building codes and wind load criteria have been revised since this study was completed. The current building is approximately 18,000 square feet in size. Facilities Management estimates the costs to harden the structure to current building codes and 150+ mph wind loads (required for a data center) to be $2 million. This figure is based on cost estimates developed to harden the Police Department building, which is approximately the same size building footprint (15,000 sf).
Other issues to take into consideration: • The bid for demolition was opened on February 10th and is valid for 90 days; extension beyond 90 days would require a request from the City for the contractor to hold pricing for additional time. • No building maintenance, utility expenses or custodial budget was included for this facility for FY 2011, nor anticipated for FY 2012 and beyond. • All utilities to the building have been disconnected and would require several thousand dollars to re establish service. • The building is currently unconditioned (no air conditioning) which will cause it to deteriorate more rapidly due to heat and humidity intrusion. • Several items have been removed from the building for reuse at other facilities prior to demolition, including the automatic transfer switch and diesel fuel for the generator, automatic door openers, drinking fountains, etc. • The environmental report generated as part of the demolition identified approximately 18,000 sf of mastic (floor tiles and mirror adhesive) that contain asbestos. Any renovation to the building would include abatement costs to remove the asbestos prior to reuse. Information Technology Evaluation of the former Community Center as a potential data center resulted from development of basic minimum requirements and recommendations by City staff, without the use of consultants that specialize in this capacity. Communication vendors were contacted for budgetary estimates of moving their service to the former Community Center. The cost of moving the physical equipment was not obtained, as the actual process of moving was not evaluated. The initial relocation would only include the City Hall computer room, City Hall telecommunications room, and the Infrastructure Division of IT (not the entire IT Department). This evaluation is from a technology perspective only; issues of building condition, economic development, and historical significance were handled by other departments. Reason for Relocation: The City needs to relocate its main computer room and telecommunications equipment from the City Hall building to a secure building able to withstand a Category 5 storm event, creating a new data center, in order to preserve technology and communications during a disaster. The estimated floor space needed for the relocation is 2,000 to 3,000 square feet. Current Network Environment: The City Hall building serves as the primary computer, telecommunications and switching hub, from which all data and communications pass through. The Largo Public Library and Environmental Services both have secondary endpoint computers room, not on the City network. The Library computer room serves the Library Patron Network, and the Environmental Services computer room serves the Wastewater Reclamation Facility (WRF) monitoring control system. The City possesses a standalone switching hub located in Largo Central Park, referred to as the "Hut". This small building, located between Seminole Boulevard and the large tunnel of the Largo Central Park Railroad, is deemed the weakest link in the entire City technology network due to its physical location, the building structure, and its unprotected proximity to Seminole Boulevard. All other buildings on the City network are considered endpoints. The new Community Center (currently an endpoint) was designed and built to be used as a backup computer room in case the City Hall building became unusable (providing the computer equipment was usable post disaster). With the backup computer room in the new Community Center, plans were being drafted to connect (via fiber optics) the new Community Center to other City emergency operations buildings to create a redundant network loop for disaster planning. This would eliminate the need for the City Hall building in order to establish connections to other City emergency operations buildings should the new Community Center backup computer room be activated. At this time, should the new Community Center be activated as the City's computer room due to City Hall being unusable, delivery of computer services to other City buildings may not be possible, as all network connectivity currently requires connection to City Hall. Telephone services to emergency operations buildings would be limited to single business lines installed in the emergency operations buildings, should City Hall become unusable.
Opportunity Considerations:
With the relocation of the City's computer room and telecommunications equipment to a new data center, consideration should be given to strengthening the City network, minimizing standalone hub points, and longterm development of a redundant fiber network loop for continuity of technology and communications in the event of a disaster. These considerations would result in longterm financial savings through the reduction of physical equipment and building maintenance. The following items should be considered in determining the location of the site for a new data center. • The physical location should be “network centralized” (i.e., located in the middle of the majority of computer and telecommunications usage) in order to minimize fiber runs between sites. • The physical location should be within an area of “network zero latency” in order to minimize the use of remote client computing software. This is a bandwidth issue, in where a zero latency area is considered noninterruptable. • The physical location should be above the 100 year flood plain. • The building should be one story, eliminating the cost associated with second floor weight load requirements and special elevators. A loading dock should be provided. • The physical location should have easy access to multiple vendor's communications infrastructure in order to minimize build out cost to the new data center. • The physical location should be capable of providing access to multiple power grids, and preferably a hospital grid (which are the first to be turned on after a storm event). • The building should be easily expandable to allow for technology growth. Consideration could be provided for inclusion of other local government data centers. • The physical location should allow for the removal of the standalone switching hub (“Hut”) in order to reduce the number of “hops” (times data must travel through a switch or router) in the network, equipment requirements, and building maintenance. Centrally locating a new facility in relation to other existing facilities will subsequently reduce capital equipment replacement and operating costs. • The physical location should allow for long term permanent occupancy in order to minimize
disruptions to City business and aggregate cost over a long time period.
The following nonlocation related items that should be considered in conjunction with the computer room and telecommunications equipment relocation to a new data center are:
• All new fiber optic runs should be buried to ensure maximum survivability.
• Activate the new Community Center as a switching hub, providing three active switching hubs connected by two fiber legs (Community Center, new IT Server Building, and Public Works Administration). Only one future fiber run would then be required to complete a redundant fiber loop. With appropriate equipment, the redundant fiber loop could become a selfhealing network, whereby if one switching hub were to fail, citywide communications would not be disrupted.
• Create telecommunications redundant service by placing one telecommunications switching processor at the new Community Center and the other in the new data center. This would provide two different feeds/routes from the vendor for telecommunication services. Former Community Center Evaluation The following addresses the above recommendations in reference to utilizing the former Community Center as the City's new data center. Location network centralized Does not provide optimum distance for fiber runs between the various City sites. Current estimates for fiber connectivity to the network are $435,000 to $450,000. Location within network zero latency Is within tolerance for zero network latency.
Above the 100 year flood plain Meets this requirement.
One story with loading dock One story requirement met, however would need loading dock and concern of floor to ceiling height due to the necessity for a raised floor for the computer room.
Access to multiple vendor infrastructure Access to communication vendors services currently being evaluated.
• Bright House data circuits, $6000 to relocate service
• Verizon voice circuits, still waiting on a response • Verizon data circuits, still waiting on a response Capable of multiple power grids Access to redundant power grids not determined at this
time (determined by Progress Energy).
Expandable Refurbishing the entire building would allow for this capability, but add recurring cost for unused portion of building.
Allow for removal of “Hut” Instead of eliminating the Hut, the network would have an increased reliance on the Hut, subsequently requiring additional capacity, equipment and building maintenance. Allow for longterm occupancy This would require preserving the current land foot print
and impact future economic development in downtown. Install buried fiber optics to new building Can be achieved, however cost to install fiber to this site
has a premium of about 20% due to obtaining permits to utilize (cross underneath) railroad rightofway and increased distances to other City locations.
Activate new Community Center as a
switching hub Could be done, but not feasible at this time due to cost. Create telecommunication redundancy by
installing two new switches Could be done, but may be near maximum telecommunications tolerances in order to achieve optimum performance.
Community Development
Historical Preservation Advisory Committee (HPAC)
The HPAC discussed the former Community Center at their retreat of March 10, 2011 (see attached minutes). Three of the five HPAC members were in attendance at the meeting, and two members of the Largo Historical Society (LHS) participated in the Community Center discussion.
It was conveyed to the HPAC by staff that the City Commission requested they discuss the possible historical significance of the former Community Center located at 65 4th Street NW. The committee agreed to use the following criteria, provided by staff, to guide their evaluation of the historical significance of the building. • The structure is the site of a significant local, state or national event; or • The structure associated in a significant way with the life or activities of a person(s) or institution(s) of importance in local, state, or national history; or • The structure embodies the distinctive characteristics of an architectural style, historical period, method of construction or is the work of a master builder, designer or architect whose individual work has influenced the development of the nation, state of Florida, Pinellas County or Largo; or • The structure is associated with distinctive elements of the cultural, social, political, economic,
scientific, religious, prehistoric, or architectural history that have contributed to the pattern of history in the community, the county, westcentral Florida, the state or nation; or • The site has yielded or is likely to yield information important to the prehistory or history of the nation, the State of Florida, Pinellas County or Largo; or • The structure is listed or has been determined eligible for listing in the National Register of Historic Places. In addition to the evaluation criteria, the HPAC was also provided with a brief background report on the building, based on research into City records. This report noted that the original building on the site was built
in the 1930s through the Works Progress Administration by the Civilian Conservation Corps. A construction project completed in the 1970s expanded the footprint of the original building. An electrical fire in 1988 destroyed most of the original structure, and a new building (the multipurpose room portion) was built on the footprint of the original structure. The HPAC members and the LHS members agreed that the building itself is not historically significant since it was primarily reconstructed in the late 1980s (a few people noted that the stage inside the building could be a part of the original structure). However, they did note that the site of the building does have cultural and social significance, since it has been a hub of community activity for the past 70 years. Several in attendance related that they had personal memories associated with the location. The group also raised concerns about demolishing another building in the traditional downtown area and losing a community space. They therefore recommended that future redevelopment should reflect the cultural and social significance of the site and draw people to the downtown. In summary, the HPAC consensus was that the Community Center currently is not a historically significant structure. Although members felt that the structure is not historically significant, their recommendation is that the City embrace cultural uses in the downtown, including an appropriate reuse in the redevelopment area to provide a social and cultural outlet that brings people downtown. For a more detailed record of the discussion, meeting minutes have been attached. Economic Development Over the past ten or more years, the City of Largo has purchased sites in and around the 4th Street Community Center. Many of the sites were obtained in order to provide large tracts of land for future redevelopment in the traditional downtown area. From previous publicprivate partnerships (Hampton Inn and West Bay Village), staff has learned that larger, singleowner parcel sites are better opportunities for a developer to consider in redeveloping in an urban area. This is the case in Largo as well as other cities in Pinellas County that are redeveloping their traditional downtowns. The recent update of the West Bay Drive Community Redevelopment Plan envisions higher densities and whole block redevelopment that provides an active urban environment in the District. The assembly of individual parcels into large parcels (and full blocks when possible) assists in meeting the Plan's objectives. The Community Center site comprises just under onehalf of a city block, and the building is part of a larger area of assembly that is bordered by a full city block to the west, 3/4ths of a city block to the north, and more than onehalf of the block to the east. In all, the City owns approximately four (4) acres of land on four contiguous blocks. The goal for redevelopment of the downtown is also shared by a community partner in business growth, the Largo MidPinellas Chamber of Commerce. In a letter to Mayor Gerard (attached), the Chamber's Board of Directors states its support for the demolition of the Community Center in order to “provide a shovelready opportunity” for a developer, since the facility is an integral part of the City's land assembly activities. City staff concurs with this assessment and feels that cleared land is the most marketable way to redevelop the area. The intersection of 4th Street and West Bay Drive is a desirable location for developers because it is a signalized intersection. The signalization provides better access for larger projects and attracts a higher quality tenant to the location. In addition to the signalized intersection, this area along West Bay Drive has some of the highest traffic counts for a secondary roadway in Pinellas County. The traffic count figures and the signalized intersection lend to the marketability of the area that includes the old Community Center building.
The economic conditions that started in 2008 have slowed market interest in redevelopment of the downtown area. Retail development, business expansions and new home construction have slowed significantly, and in some cases have almost come to a stop. West Bay Village has been affected both in housing resale and the vacancy rates in the commercial properties. Real estate conditions are improving, however, with a focus on urban redevelopment over suburban development where the infrastructure is in
place and the area demographics are known and not subjective.
Community Development staff have been promoting the cityowned parcels to developers and end users at the various events that they have attended over the past two years. Developers and relocation experts are now more active in site selection than in the previous two years. Interest in Cityowned properties downtown is beginning to increase, and staff continues to promote the parcels as redevelopment opportunities for a publicprivate partnership. Staff will be discussing the proposed redevelopment plans for Cityowned properties at the June 14, 2011 City Commission Work Session.
Attachments:
Correspondence – McCarthy & Associates, Inc., March 25, 2005
Meeting Minutes – Historical Preservation Advisory Committee, March 10, 2011 Correspondence – Largo MidPinellas Chamber of Commerce, March 8, 2011
Former Community Center Executive Summary The FY 2011 Budget includes $40,000 for planned demolition of the former Community Center on 4th Street following completion of the new Community Center on Alternate Keene Road. At the City Commission Meeting of March 1, 2011, the City Commission postponed action on the award of demolition contract for the former Community Center building. The City Commission requested staff consider the reuse of the building as a new IT Data Center, housing computer servers and telecommunications equipment for the City. The City Commission also requested input from the City's Historical Preservation Advisory Committee (HPAC) and the Historical Society as to whether the building should be preserved due to its possible historic significance.
Staff has obtained information from the Public Works, Information Technology (IT), and Community Development Departments related to the City Commission's request, and the HPAC has convened to discuss this issue. Based on the information obtained, it is not recommended that the City pursue use of this building as an IT Data Center. Locating an IT Data Center at this site does not best meet the needs of the IT Department. Based on the size and current structural rating of the building, substantial modifications would be required that make the cost of retrofitting this building equal to or greater than new construction east of Alternate 19/CSX railroad tracks, in closer proximity to other major City facilities. Additionally, reuse of the building (in whole or in part) will disrupt the parcel assembly that has taken place over the past decade for the purposes of downtown redevelopment in accordance with the West Bay Drive–Community Redevelopment District Plan. The Chamber of Commerce has submitted correspondence supporting the demolition of the former Community Center, and the HPAC has stated that the structure has been substantially modified to where the building itself does not have historical significance in accordance with historical preservation criteria. It is staff's recommendation to proceed with the demolition of the former Community Center building and subsequently market the property for redevelopment as will be discussed at the upcoming City Commission Work Session on June 14, 2011. Public Works In March 2005, Facilities Management contracted with McCarthy and Associates to perform a preliminary structural evaluation of the building. At the time of the evaluation, the former Community Center consisted of the original building and a subsequent addition that was built to replace part of the facility that was destroyed by a fire. The addition/renovation was completed in 1990. The structural analysis was performed on both the multipurpose room addition and the renovated one story building. The findings of the report from the structural evaluation are summarized below, and a copy of the report is attached: Original building (west end, renovated 1990) • One story masonry structure with a flat roof. • Roof is constructed with steel beams, bar joists and metal deck. • Original drawings were not available limiting ability to calculate design capacity of the structure. Building addition (east end) • There does not appear to be any vertical reinforcement of the masonry load bearing walls.
• The roof structure consists of preengineered wood trusses, plywood sheeting, and metal tile shingles. • Wood trusses are secured to a wood top plate with a light gauge metal hurricane clip of minimal capacity. • Based on this review, the addition does not appear to meet wind load criteria required by the current (2005) building code. • Note: Building codes and wind load criteria have been revised since this study was completed. The current building is approximately 18,000 square feet in size. Facilities Management estimates the costs to harden the structure to current building codes and 150+ mph wind loads (required for a data center) to be $2 million. This figure is based on cost estimates developed to harden the Police Department building, which is approximately the same size building footprint (15,000 sf).
Other issues to take into consideration: • The bid for demolition was opened on February 10th and is valid for 90 days; extension beyond 90 days would require a request from the City for the contractor to hold pricing for additional time. • No building maintenance, utility expenses or custodial budget was included for this facility for FY 2011, nor anticipated for FY 2012 and beyond. • All utilities to the building have been disconnected and would require several thousand dollars to re establish service. • The building is currently unconditioned (no air conditioning) which will cause it to deteriorate more rapidly due to heat and humidity intrusion. • Several items have been removed from the building for reuse at other facilities prior to demolition, including the automatic transfer switch and diesel fuel for the generator, automatic door openers, drinking fountains, etc. • The environmental report generated as part of the demolition identified approximately 18,000 sf of mastic (floor tiles and mirror adhesive) that contain asbestos. Any renovation to the building would include abatement costs to remove the asbestos prior to reuse. Information Technology Evaluation of the former Community Center as a potential data center resulted from development of basic minimum requirements and recommendations by City staff, without the use of consultants that specialize in this capacity. Communication vendors were contacted for budgetary estimates of moving their service to the former Community Center. The cost of moving the physical equipment was not obtained, as the actual process of moving was not evaluated. The initial relocation would only include the City Hall computer room, City Hall telecommunications room, and the Infrastructure Division of IT (not the entire IT Department). This evaluation is from a technology perspective only; issues of building condition, economic development, and historical significance were handled by other departments. Reason for Relocation: The City needs to relocate its main computer room and telecommunications equipment from the City Hall building to a secure building able to withstand a Category 5 storm event, creating a new data center, in order to preserve technology and communications during a disaster. The estimated floor space needed for the relocation is 2,000 to 3,000 square feet. Current Network Environment: The City Hall building serves as the primary computer, telecommunications and switching hub, from which all data and communications pass through. The Largo Public Library and Environmental Services both have secondary endpoint computers room, not on the City network. The Library computer room serves the Library Patron Network, and the Environmental Services computer room serves the Wastewater Reclamation Facility (WRF) monitoring control system. The City possesses a standalone switching hub located in Largo Central Park, referred to as the "Hut". This small building, located between Seminole Boulevard and the large tunnel of the Largo Central Park Railroad, is deemed the weakest link in the entire City technology network due to its physical location, the building structure, and its unprotected proximity to Seminole Boulevard. All other buildings on the City network are considered endpoints. The new Community Center (currently an endpoint) was designed and built to be used as a backup computer room in case the City Hall building became unusable (providing the computer equipment was usable post disaster). With the backup computer room in the new Community Center, plans were being drafted to connect (via fiber optics) the new Community Center to other City emergency operations buildings to create a redundant network loop for disaster planning. This would eliminate the need for the City Hall building in order to establish connections to other City emergency operations buildings should the new Community Center backup computer room be activated. At this time, should the new Community Center be activated as the City's computer room due to City Hall being unusable, delivery of computer services to other City buildings may not be possible, as all network connectivity currently requires connection to City Hall. Telephone services to emergency operations buildings would be limited to single business lines installed in the emergency operations buildings, should City Hall become unusable.
Opportunity Considerations:
With the relocation of the City's computer room and telecommunications equipment to a new data center, consideration should be given to strengthening the City network, minimizing standalone hub points, and longterm development of a redundant fiber network loop for continuity of technology and communications in the event of a disaster. These considerations would result in longterm financial savings through the reduction of physical equipment and building maintenance. The following items should be considered in determining the location of the site for a new data center. • The physical location should be “network centralized” (i.e., located in the middle of the majority of computer and telecommunications usage) in order to minimize fiber runs between sites. • The physical location should be within an area of “network zero latency” in order to minimize the use of remote client computing software. This is a bandwidth issue, in where a zero latency area is considered noninterruptable. • The physical location should be above the 100 year flood plain. • The building should be one story, eliminating the cost associated with second floor weight load requirements and special elevators. A loading dock should be provided. • The physical location should have easy access to multiple vendor's communications infrastructure in order to minimize build out cost to the new data center. • The physical location should be capable of providing access to multiple power grids, and preferably a hospital grid (which are the first to be turned on after a storm event). • The building should be easily expandable to allow for technology growth. Consideration could be provided for inclusion of other local government data centers. • The physical location should allow for the removal of the standalone switching hub (“Hut”) in order to reduce the number of “hops” (times data must travel through a switch or router) in the network, equipment requirements, and building maintenance. Centrally locating a new facility in relation to other existing facilities will subsequently reduce capital equipment replacement and operating costs.
• The physical location should allow for long term permanent occupancy in order to minimize disruptions to City business and aggregate cost over a long time period.
The following nonlocation related items that should be considered in conjunction with the computer room and telecommunications equipment relocation to a new data center are:
• All new fiber optic runs should be buried to ensure maximum survivability.
• Activate the new Community Center as a switching hub, providing three active switching hubs
connected by two fiber legs (Community Center, new IT Server Building, and Public Works Administration). Only one future fiber run would then be required to complete a redundant fiber loop. With appropriate equipment, the redundant fiber loop could become a selfhealing network, whereby if one switching hub were to fail, citywide communications would not be disrupted.
• Create telecommunications redundant service by placing one telecommunications switching processor at the new Community Center and the other in the new data center. This would provide two different feeds/routes from the vendor for telecommunication services. Former Community Center Evaluation The following addresses the above recommendations in reference to utilizing the former Community Center as the City's new data center. Location network centralized Does not provide optimum distance for fiber runs between the various City sites. Current estimates for fiber connectivity to the network are $435,000 to $450,000. Location within network zero latency Is within tolerance for zero network latency.
Above the 100 year flood plain Meets this requirement.
One story with loading dock One story requirement met, however would need loading dock and concern of floor to ceiling height due to the necessity for a raised floor for the computer room.
Access to multiple vendor infrastructure Access to communication vendors services currently being evaluated.
• Bright House data circuits, $6000 to relocate
service
• Verizon voice circuits, still waiting on a response
• Verizon data circuits, still waiting on a response Capable of multiple power grids Access to redundant power grids not determined at this
time (determined by Progress Energy).
Expandable Refurbishing the entire building would allow for this capability, but add recurring cost for unused portion of building.
Allow for removal of “Hut” Instead of eliminating the Hut, the network would have an increased reliance on the Hut, subsequently requiring additional capacity, equipment and building maintenance. Allow for longterm occupancy This would require preserving the current land foot print
and impact future economic development in downtown. Install buried fiber optics to new building Can be achieved, however cost to install fiber to this site
has a premium of about 20% due to obtaining permits to utilize (cross underneath) railroad rightofway and increased distances to other City locations.
Activate new Community Center as a
switching hub Could be done, but not feasible at this time due to cost. Create telecommunication redundancy by
installing two new switches Could be done, but may be near maximum telecommunications tolerances in order to achieve optimum performance.
Community Development
Historical Preservation Advisory Committee (HPAC)
The HPAC discussed the former Community Center at their retreat of March 10, 2011 (see attached minutes). Three of the five HPAC members were in attendance at the meeting, and two members of the Largo Historical Society (LHS) participated in the Community Center discussion.
It was conveyed to the HPAC by staff that the City Commission requested they discuss the possible historical significance of the former Community Center located at 65 4th Street NW. The committee agreed to use the following criteria, provided by staff, to guide their evaluation of the historical significance of the building. • The structure is the site of a significant local, state or national event; or • The structure associated in a significant way with the life or activities of a person(s) or institution(s) of importance in local, state, or national history; or • The structure embodies the distinctive characteristics of an architectural style, historical period, method of construction or is the work of a master builder, designer or architect whose individual work has influenced the development of the nation, state of Florida, Pinellas County or Largo; or
• The structure is associated with distinctive elements of the cultural, social, political, economic,
scientific, religious, prehistoric, or architectural history that have contributed to the pattern of history in the community, the county, westcentral Florida, the state or nation; or • The site has yielded or is likely to yield information important to the prehistory or history of the nation, the State of Florida, Pinellas County or Largo; or • The structure is listed or has been determined eligible for listing in the National Register of Historic Places. In addition to the evaluation criteria, the HPAC was also provided with a brief background report on the building, based on research into City records. This report noted that the original building on the site was built
in the 1930s through the Works Progress Administration by the Civilian Conservation Corps. A construction project completed in the 1970s expanded the footprint of the original building. An electrical fire in 1988 destroyed most of the original structure, and a new building (the multipurpose room portion) was built on the footprint of the original structure. The HPAC members and the LHS members agreed that the building itself is not historically significant since it was primarily reconstructed in the late 1980s (a few people noted that the stage inside the building could be a part of the original structure). However, they did note that the site of the building does have cultural and social significance, since it has been a hub of community activity for the past 70 years. Several in attendance related that they had personal memories associated with the location. The group also raised concerns about demolishing another building in the traditional downtown area and losing a community space. They therefore recommended that future redevelopment should reflect the cultural and social significance of the site and draw people to the downtown. In summary, the HPAC consensus was that the Community Center currently is not a historically significant structure. Although members felt that the structure is not historically significant, their recommendation is that the City embrace cultural uses in the downtown, including an appropriate reuse in the redevelopment area to provide a social and cultural outlet that brings people downtown. For a more detailed record of the discussion, meeting minutes have been attached. Economic Development Over the past ten or more years, the City of Largo has purchased sites in and around the 4th Street Community Center. Many of the sites were obtained in order to provide large tracts of land for future redevelopment in the traditional downtown area. From previous publicprivate partnerships (Hampton Inn and West Bay Village), staff has learned that larger, singleowner parcel sites are better opportunities for a developer to consider in redeveloping in an urban area. This is the case in Largo as well as other cities in Pinellas County that are redeveloping their traditional downtowns. The recent update of the West Bay Drive Community Redevelopment Plan envisions higher densities and whole block redevelopment that provides an active urban environment in the District. The assembly of individual parcels into large parcels (and full blocks when possible) assists in meeting the Plan's objectives. The Community Center site comprises just under onehalf of a city block, and the building is part of a larger area of assembly that is bordered by a full city block to the west, 3/4ths of a city block to the north, and more than onehalf of the block to the east. In all, the City owns approximately four (4) acres of land on four contiguous blocks. The goal for redevelopment of the downtown is also shared by a community partner in business growth, the Largo MidPinellas Chamber of Commerce. In a letter to Mayor Gerard (attached), the Chamber's Board of Directors states its support for the demolition of the Community Center in order to “provide a shovelready opportunity” for a developer, since the facility is an integral part of the City's land assembly activities. City staff concurs with this assessment and feels that cleared land is the most marketable way to redevelop the area. The intersection of 4th Street and West Bay Drive is a desirable location for developers because it is a signalized intersection. The signalization provides better access for larger projects and attracts a higher quality tenant to the location. In addition to the signalized intersection, this area along West Bay Drive has some of the highest traffic counts for a secondary roadway in Pinellas County. The traffic count figures and the signalized intersection lend to the marketability of the area that includes the old Community Center building.
The economic conditions that started in 2008 have slowed market interest in redevelopment of the downtown area. Retail development, business expansions and new home construction have slowed significantly, and in some cases have almost come to a stop. West Bay Village has been affected both in housing resale and the vacancy rates in the commercial properties. Real estate conditions are improving, however, with a focus on urban redevelopment over suburban development where the infrastructure is in
place and the area demographics are known and not subjective.
Community Development staff have been promoting the cityowned parcels to developers and end users at the various events that they have attended over the past two years. Developers and relocation experts are now more active in site selection than in the previous two years. Interest in Cityowned properties downtown is beginning to increase, and staff continues to promote the parcels as redevelopment opportunities for a publicprivate partnership. Staff will be discussing the proposed redevelopment plans for Cityowned properties at the June 14, 2011 City Commission Work Session.
Attachments:
Correspondence – McCarthy & Associates, Inc., March 25, 2005
Meeting Minutes – Historical Preservation Advisory Committee, March 10, 2011 Correspondence – Largo MidPinellas Chamber of Commerce, March 8, 2011
