Damakant Jayshi

A new fleet repair facility for Wausau’s Department of Public Works and Utilities slated for a west-side property will cost more than $25 million, officials said this week.

The facility is planned for a property that once housed Wausau Iron Works, on the corner 10th Avenue and West Street. Tthe $25.1 million price tag includes about $23.72 million in construction cost and roughly $1.4 million for demolition, according to a presentation by Barrientos Design & Consulting at the Wausau Capital Improvements and Street Maintenance Committee meeting on Thursday.

The cost for the complex does not include expenses related to the purchase of the property and the “consultant fees,” nor does it include the cost of the installation of rooftop solar panels should the city decide to add them to the plan.

Two alders, Gary Gisselman and Lisa Rasmussen, asked the design representatives about the possibility and the cost of installing solar energy equipment. The firm’s representatives didn’t have cost estimates readily available but said they would pass them along to city officials. Six to eight electric charging stations are planned at the facility.

Previously, city officials said the project would cost roughly $17.36 million, which included $1.95 million to buy the property and construction costs of more than $12 million. That total also included approximately $2.46 million for additional heated parking. Unclear is whether the property owners have agreed to sell their property. Alder Rasmussen blamed the higher costs on inflation-related price hikes and a long wait for a decision on the site.

The search for a property large enough to house the DPW’s entire operation has been going on since 2021, marred by several heated discussions and charges of insubordination by Public Works Director Eric Lindman. Previously, the consultant was asked to assess eight other sites.

Barrientos is supervising the architectural aspect of the project while another firm, Clark Dietz, is responsible for the engineering part.

The site will house both the repair and administration sections of the DPW, though the lot is not big enough to host the department’s entire administrative and operational aspects. The city has expressed interest in buying properties nearby, at least one of which is owned by Marathon County.

The Wausau Iron Works site at 1100 West St. has five buildings and three separate plots, of which two are zoned heavy industrial and the other is medium industrial. While sharing the assessment of the property in January, Norman Barrientos, the president of the firm, noted that given its previous use as an iron casting factory, the site likely contains heavy contamination.

On Thursday, a Barrientos representative said some of the buildings and structures on the site will be demolished, some retained and some remodeled. The repair facility will have wash, welding and service bays. The new complex will have storage and parking lots, and the building that will house the offices will be ADA compatible, according to the presentation.

Since the Thursday’s presentation was an update, the CISM Committee took no action on it.

[To view the preliminary design, click here and go to page 16.]