Bordentown Township broke ground last month on a major project to construct a new home for its municipal offices.
When completed, the new complex will house offices and meeting rooms for administrative staff and officials, as well as the municipal court and the police department.
The township held a groundbreaking ceremony on Oct. 15 to officially mark the start of construction. The new complex will replace the existing facilities at 1 Municipal Drive.
“We are very proud to begin construction on this much needed and long awaited project,” said Mayor Eugene M. Fuzy. “This new building will provide a great resource for our residents and a true focal point of our community. The committee has put together a great team of professionals and contractors to bring this building to life.
“We are especially proud to have a strong partnership with local labor and to build this facility with cooperation from all union trades. On behalf of the township committee, I want to thank everyone involved in getting the project to this point. I look forward to the ribbon-cutting ceremony once the facility is ready for use.”
Plans call for the complex to be a two-story, 35,000-square-foot facility. Estimated construction time for the new building is approximately 15 months, with final completion of site work approximately 18 months.
The township’s senior center at 3 Municipal Drive will also be upgraded, modernized, and refurbished to complement the new complex.
The timeline for the project starts in May 2021, when the township committee created a subcommittee to evaluate possible future locations for a new complex. In April 2022, the township committee resolved to accept the subcommittee’s recommendation that the complex be built adjacent to the existing facility.
A month later, the township committee set a budget of $20 million for the project and passed an ordinance appropriating $20 million in financing, minus $955,000 in down payments that are required by state law.
Costs estimated in the ordinance included $1,450,000 for roadway improvements, $250,000 for public works equipment, $250,000 for improvements to parks and recreational facilities in the township, $50,000 for facilities maintenance, $500,000 for the acquisition of property. The rest, or $17,500,000, was for planning, design and construction costs for the new complex.
In October 2022, the township engaged Epic Management, Inc. to provide construction management services, allocating $625,000 for the purpose. It then hired Moorestown-based Turek Consulting LLC that November to conduct an environmental study and survey of the site. In the same meeting, the committee awarded a contract to Philadelphia-based IEI Architects, Inc. to do concept drawings of the future complex.
After seeing and approving of IEI’s conceptual designs, the township in March 2023 retained the firm as project architects, allocating $980,000 for the purpose. Later, the township committee amended this agreement to allow for an additional $70,000 in costs.
In July 2023, the committee accepted a proposal from Turek Consulting to clear the site and do landscaping, paving, utility work and stormwater management. The contract allowed for a maximum expense of $151,880.
In August 2023, the committee accepted a $93,000 bid from Hainesport-based Winzinger, Inc. to demolish 765 Farnsworth Ave. (the former River Mill Restaurant) and 803 Farnsworth Ave., properties adjacent to the complex and both owned by the township.
In October 2023, IEI Architects principal Mark Coan gave the township an update on the progress made on the design. The presentation, which is available on the Bordentown Township website, offers a site plan, floor plan, a project schedule and numerous 3-D renderings.
In 2024, Turek Consulting was named township and planning board engineer for the calendar year, and in February additionally authorized contracts with Turek for environmental site assessment ($18,348) and asbestos and lead paint sampling in the current building ($28,800).
Later, in July, the township also accepted Turek Consulting’s proposal to provide construction management and inspection services for a price not to exceed $158,800. In the meantime, IEI Architects merged with another firm, DesignBlendz LLC, necessitating amendments to its contract.
July 15 was a big day for the project, as it was the date that the township committee awarded the building construction and HVAC commissioning contracts.
The township received eight bids for the construction contract. DesignBlendz recommended the low bid of $19,685,000, from Ernest Bock and Sons, Inc., of Philadelphia, and the township accepted it.
Ernest Bock and Sons did construction on the $53-million Mercer County Courthouse. The firm has a number of ongoing projects in the area, including the 19-story, $70-million building at 1101 Walnut St. in Philadelphia; the $233-million Montgomery County, Pennsylvania Justice Center — a six-story addition to an existing courthouse — and the $32-million Salem County Criminal Courthouse.
Ernest Bock and Sons has also done work in Bordentown, although not for the township. The firm did renovations and reconfigurations at the Department of Transportation’s Bordentown Training Facility, formerly the New Jersey National Guard Bordentown Combined Support Maintenance Shop.
The bid from Concord Engineering, of Voorhees, for the mechanical systems contract was the only one received. With sign-off from both Turek and DesignBlendz, the township awarded the contract to Concord for $98,000.
Having sized up the dollar amounts of all the contracts, the township also this year appropriated an additional $8 million, bringing total appropriation for the construction project to $25.5 million.
“That’s authorization to borrow, not necessarily borrowing,” township Mike Theokas told the Current. “We hope not to have to use all of that appropriation.”
With site preparation now underway, the township has set a target opening date of January 2026 for the complex.
Once it is open and operational, the existing municipal building will be set for demolition, a project that is expected to take three months.
The township says that municipal operations will continue uninterrupted during construction. Visitors are asked to be mindful of new parking arrangements and ongoing construction.
An artist’s rendering of the future Bordentown Township Municipal Complex. (Image courtesy of Bordentown Township.),
