91视频

More than a year has passed since the Courthouse Square building in Salem was declared unsafe and evacuated.

Now, after several investigations and lawsuit settlements, the owners are asking construction companies to weigh in before officials decide what to do next.

A group of more than two dozen contractors last week toured the Courthouse Square complex, which is jointly owned by Marion County and the Salem Area Mass Transit District. The walk-through was required for any company interested in responding to a request for design-build proposals for potential remediation work.

鈥淭his (request for proposals) is the first one that is actually asking people to come up with a proposed solution and a dollar amount,鈥� said Dave Henderson, Marion County’s business services director. 鈥淪o this is really designed to see what’s out there in the marketplace as far as how much it will cost to fix the building.鈥�

To date, the only formal estimate on remediation costs came from an investigation conducted by . According to that report, repairs for the office building, business mall and North block would cost approximately $53 million.

鈥淚 wouldn’t hazard a guess (on remediation costs) at this point 鈥� that ball is clearly up in the air,鈥� said Gill Wilbanks, president and principal engineer of Wilbanks King International LLC. Wilbanks attended the recent tour and is involved with several teams that are planning on responding to the RFP.

鈥淎 lot of people with a lot of experience are looking at this now; the county is right to throw it out there and see what people have to say,鈥� Wilbanks said.

The $34 million Courthouse Square office building and transit mall opened at 555 Court St. in 2000, but by 2002, tenants were expressing concerns. Engineering studies in 2004, 2007 and 2009 uncovered a range of problems with the building. Then, in summer 2010, both the bus mall and the office building were declared dangerous structures when it was found that weight on the building’s columns was too great for the building to be considered inhabitable.

Golder Associates, the consulting company now serving as the owners’ representative, earlier this year presented a report tracing the building’s problems to structural engineer Mike Hayford, who worked on the project for Century West Engineering. Hayford, whose health was deteriorating at the time, was let go from the firm; he was replaced by an engineer who had recently earned his certification 鈥� potentially exacerbating mistakes.

Hayford died in 2002. A $1 million lawsuit with聽Century West Engineering聽is pending, according to Henderson. The county has settled lawsuits with contractor Pence/Kelly Construction, Arbuckle Costic Architects and five other subcontractors.

The recent tour of the 11-year-old building was led by Mark Liebman, a project manager for . After seeing the uneven floors, cracked walls and other signs of deficient engineering, several contractors asked for more details about the owners’ expectations of the construction effort, according to Liebman.

鈥淩ight now, the tenant has moved out and (the contractors’) questions were mainly about getting all of the systems operational 鈥� how much of that responsibility would fall on the contractor,鈥� he said.

In an addendum issued this week, the owners clarified that at final completion, the building must be 鈥渇ully functional and move-in ready,鈥� Henderson said, adding that the owners will reinstall cubicles and desks.

鈥淎 fix is certainly possible,鈥� Wilbanks said. 鈥淚t’s an interesting challenge, but that’s what engineers like to do.鈥�

He suggested that one potential fix would be to perform work similar to seismic upgrades typically done for older buildings. High-tech concrete, such as ductile concrete or carbon fiber, could be valuable in the remediation work as well, according to Wilbanks.

The owners have not committed to moving forward with building repairs, however. Demolition may ultimately be the answer, but no investigations into that option are under way.

鈥淭he RFP for remediation of the Courthouse Square complex is the first step in the decision process,鈥� said Peggy Mitchell, contracts compliance analyst for Marion County. 鈥淭he owners need to see this information first, and then we’ll proceed accordingly based on that information.鈥�

The remediation proposals will be ranked based on technical merit, contractor qualifications, and the cost and timeline of the proposed solution. Interested companies must submit letters of intent by today, and proposals are due by Feb. 7, 2012.