Construction on Prairie Village Works Facility to begin July 2020

According to Prairie Village Mayor Eric Mikkelson, construction for the new Prairie Village Works Facility, located near the Somerset and Mission intersection will begin in July 2020, to be completed by the end of 2020.

The existing building by Highlawn Montessori school will be torn down and the new building will be built on that lot. The new building will store salt for the roads, snow plows, road materials and a gas station for facility trucks. 

The tear down will include a full update of the building, adding features including solar panels, high efficiency heating and cooling systems and more environmentally sustainable features.

“We got a dependent consultant to come in and evaluate the structural integrity of these buildings,” Mikkelson said. “Some of the ones we are replacing are in poor conditions which means there is just a matter of time before they become unusable…it’s time for them to be replaced.”

The building will be built to have energy efficiency and be able to last through floods and harsh winters. It will be designed to be environmentally friendly with solar panels that last fifty plus years, according to Mikkelson.

“We have anticipated the possibility that the city will grow in population and perhaps density,” Mikkelson said. “If we needed to add some staff in the future we will be able to do that.” 

According to Mikkelson, City Council has known that these changes would have to be made — with some of the existing buildings being more than 50 years old. The current buildings are not up to code and are in need of repair, according to Public Works Administrator Keith Bredehoeft.

“The council allowed us to go through a process of possibly determining what could be done,” Bredehoeft said. “Through that process we have approved a project to remove two of our buildings and put one building back.”

Bredehoeft said the building will have enough space for the public works staff as well as crew members and their equipment. The building should also contain enough office space to even move some staff in the city hall building down to this facility. 

The council has approved a bond finance and will borrow money from investors to pay for the construction and pay it off over a span of thirty years. A bid of nearly 10-million dollars was approved purchasing bonds which is the amount the council is asking for to cover all the renovations. 

According to Mikkelson, the community of Prairie Village will benefit from having a safe and functional public works facility. The staff will be working in better conditions, resulting in better repair work. For example, snow plowing will be maintained and functional at higher levels with better gas and oil station as well as indoor storage. 

This $10 million project is expected to be finished by the end of 2020, although some of the building’s facilities may not be finished before the goal.