Crews with PCS began selective demolition work on the brick building on Monday.
Construction has started on the Broad Street Market.
Over two years after a fire tore through the market’s brick building, workers on Monday started an estimated 18-month construction process, beginning with selective demolition.
Previously, crews were slated to begin work on Tuesday, but according to Dave Baker, city facilities director, demo contractor Power Component Systems (PCS) was ready to get to work at 7 a.m. Monday morning.
“With demo, you’ll see a big difference pretty quick,” Baker said.
PCS has begun taking down doors in the brick building to salvage for potential later use. They will also work on taking off windows and boards covering doors and windows.
“We are getting this building wide open,” said Stephen Wilt, project executive with Harrisburg-based Alexander Construction Co., the building manager for the project.
(From left) Dave Baker, city facilities director, Stephen Wilt, project executive with Alexander Construction Co., Debbie Reihart, city project manager, Darren Rech, safety director with Alexander
The demolition team will then work with the other 11 contractors set to come on site to coordinate additional work. Demo will also include taking off the entire roof of the building, while leaving some of the rafters and demolishing and rebricking small portions of the walls that are unstable.
Of the 11 bid packages for the market rebuild, 10 are lined up, and the city is interviewing for the 11th today, Baker said.
However, most of the contractors cannot begin work until City Council approves the funds to pay the contractors. City officials shared their proposal to shift around $14 million in Harrisburg’s budget to add it to the budget for the market. In total, the market rebuild will cost an estimated $23 million. The money reallocation is on the agenda for a council special legislative session on Tuesday evening.
Officials said that the city has to have the money up front to pay contractors, but hopes to get refunded as much as possible through insurance. Baker said that they’ve estimated getting around $12 million total in insurance, but aren’t certain yet exactly how much they’ll receive in the end.
Once contractors are approved, the community will see a “beehive of activity” in the next couple of weeks, Baker said.
Wilt explained that, next week, Alexander will gather together all the contractors to get everyone on the same page with the project schedule.
As for the price tag of the rebuild, Wilt and Baker both stated that they feel comfortable with the current cost, basing their estimates on data for historical projects.
Baker also noted that the city received Pennsylvania Historical and Museum Commission approval for the rebuild of the historic building and is incorporating recommendations from local and state historic organizations.
Baker and Wilt said that, once the rebuild is done, the brick building will look mostly as it did before the fire, but cleaner, brighter and more functional.
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