Broad Street Market brick building
Interior demolition will begin on the Broad Street Market this week.
Harrisburg will begin demolition inside the market’s fire-damaged brick building on Tuesday, with the city declaring the market situation an official emergency, according to Matt Maisel, communications director.
Maisel said that the city decided to declare an emergency on July 23, over a year after the initial market fire, having been alerted by a community member that rats were in the building and determining the situation was a health and safety risk.
Harrisburg-based TLC Construction and Renovations, LLC will complete the demolition work at a cost of $136,460 to the city.
Maisel said that the demo will begin on the half of the brick building nearest the courtyard, which was significantly less damaged by the fire. The work will include essentially gutting the building. All shelving, counters and stands will be removed, wall coverings will be stripped to expose the brick. Carpet, flooring and insulation will be removed, as well as light fixtures, bathrooms, signs and all debris. Most all of the debris and interior structures and items will be trashed, Maisel said.
Vendors have been allowed to mark anything they have in the building that is worth saving, Maisel said. TLC Construction will salvage all items marked for saving.
The emergency declaration, Maisel said, allows the city to bypass “red tape.” Originally, City Council would have been required to vote on the contractor, but the declaration gets around that.
“The good thing was that the mayor was able to put out an emergency declaration, which was able to bypass a lot of the red tape that usually takes place in this, for some of these smaller inside jobs,” Maisel said.
Maisel said that work is just now beginning on the market due to limited city resources and staff. The opening of the temporary tent was the first priority, he said.
“We are doing the best that we can, as fast as we can, with the limited resources that we have,” he said. “Our facilities team is not large. We can really only handle one job at a time.”
The declaration also covers demo work on the opposite side of the brick building, which suffered significant fire damage. That will be completed by Lancaster County-based VERSAPRO at a cost of $91,200. Additionally, the city has selected York County-based CB Construction Services Inc. to do framing and carpentry on the courtyard-facing side of the building at a cost of $55,856. The same company will also do plumbing work to take out pipes and cap lines in the same side of the building at a cost of $19,895. CB will also do shoring work, such as covering holes and preventing structure collapse in the more damaged portion of the building for $52,407. Lead window abatement will be handled by Camp Hill-based PCS, at a cost of $35,345.
According to Maisel, for each job, the city interviewed interested companies. The city reached out to some, while others contacted the city themselves, submitting a letter of interest. Harrisburg put out a request for interest, which opened on July 23 and closed July 29.
Harrisburg’s request for proposals for an architect was issued prior to the emergency declaration, and will follow standard procedure. Bids are due Aug. 14. Maisel said that they hope to hire an architect by mid-fall and have a building design prepared by the spring of 2025. Reconstruction of the brick building is expected to be complete by winter 2026 or spring 2027, Maisel said.
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