Newspaper Page Text
Page 18
Flagpole Magazine
November 13, 1991
And Yet...
Polshek problems, part two
On Nov. 5 The Athens-Clarke commis
sion met and among other things, made a
decision on what to do about the proposed
civic center. The public was heard, propos
als were made and in the end, a decision
was reached.
A proposal made by Ken Jordan (ex
cerpts from which are printed in italics) was
passed by the commission with a 7 - 3 vote.
This proposal has several steps and ad
dresses several issues, but in a nutshell, it
gives another chance to the architects of
record, Rabun Hatch, and the design archi
tects, James Stewart Polshek and Partners.
Step ones
Turn back the clock
The proposal approved by the commis
sion has several steps.
Step 1: The commission in concert
with the Classic Center Authority initiate dis
cussion with Rabun Hatch, architects of
record and James S Polshek to:
a. Seek possible redesign of the civic
center to address citizen concerns regard
ing appearance and specifically the incor
poration of the fire hall in the design
b. Ascertain willingness to reconsider
fees for additional design work, to what
extent completed design detail could be
used for purposes of minimizing additional
costs, and estimate of additional fees
According to Jordan, there was never a
meeting with the architects, the authority
and the commission all in the same room
discussing the problems that the Polshek
planbroughtup He feels thatthis would be
a logical first step in solving some of the
problems the design poses.
Tim Hartung, one of the Polshek archi
tects working on the design, agrees that
such a meeting would
be fruitful. "Before the
new government took
over, communications
between us and our
client were fine. When
the new government
came in...there were
some new opinions of
what the project
should be...at our
request, a meeting
was held to discuss
options and changes
that they might want...we left that meeting
with an agreement to go forward."
The architects informed the authority
and the commission that inclusion of the fire
hall into the original design would cost in
excess of $1 million. Polshek's second
design, which was submitted this summer
at that firm’s initiative, did include the fire
hall. It was estimated to be the cheapest
design submitted so far. So, just how much
will it cost to include the fire hall, and how
much will it cost to actually build the space
required?
Hartung has already stated that Polshek
One includes all the space the budget will
allow. We have already spent over $ 1.2 mil
lion dollars on this design, and construction
hasn’t even begun. It is clear that the
government cannot afford to spend any
more money on pre-construction designs,
without risking the future of the project.
As far as the discrepancies between
Polshek’s estimates on inclusion of the fire
hall and the lower cost of Polshek Two
(which includes the fire hall) the key thing to
keep this in mind:
Polshek has never
done a cost estimate
on their second de
sign. The figures on
that project were pro
vided by Hardin Man
agement, a firm not as
sociated with Polshek
in anyway. According
to Hartung, the Polshek
architects have never
seen these figures,
and therefore cannot
say they will stand behind them.
Step two:
Fish or cut bait
Step 2: Following step 1 discussions
make one of the following decisions:
a. If discussions indicate a willingness to
offer new design options which can meet
concerns expressed in step 1 above and
information regarding fees offer substantial
savings — proceed with the redesign.
b. If discussions fail to produce an ac
cord regarding design and fees, terminate
existing contract with Rabun Hatch, Archi
tects and place project on hold.
This seems pretty straight-forward.
Either Polshek is going to be able to do it or
they aren’t. If they can come up with a
design which is big enough, has an accept
able facade and comes in under the pro
posed budget, then construction will pro
ceed. If an agreement cannot be reached
then Polshek goes back to New York and
the government takes time to examine it’s
options.
If we do terminate our contract with
Rabun Hatch and Polshek and Partners,
where will that leave us? To date we have
paid them over $1.2 million dollars. The
design known as Polshek One is suppos
edly almost 90% complete. The work Rabun
Hatch and the Polshek firm has done so far
includes not just basic designs and facade
schemas but construction information that
might very well be applied to any design, by
any firm. This is what our money has paid
for, an almost completely designed facility.
If we should terminate our contract, what do
we take with us?
According to Hartung, “ if the deci
sion is made to design a new facility, then
much of the work we've already done could
possibly be re-applied. But if the contract
is terminated, and that would be unfortu
nate.. . our design products are a product of
our services, and they go with us."
Steps 3 and 4:
Review and more review
Step 3: If design of the project is sus
pended, request the Classic Center Au
thority review the market analysis and pro
gram requirements as affected by the re
vised construction budget, following w rJch
a joint Commission and Authority meeting
be held to discuss viability of project within
funds available.
“Competition naturally
stimulates a
better product...”
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