Tuesday, March 21, 2000
Ballpark closer to getting a manager
BY DAN KLEPAL
The Cincinnati Enquirer
The county will hire a project manager to oversee construction of the new Reds baseball stadium next week.
County officials want to make sure that the firm it hires is accountable for bringing the stadium in on time and on budget.
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DUTIES
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Among the specific responsibilities the project manager will have:
• Provide an independent review of construction manager Huber, Hunt & Nichols' schedule and architect HOK Sports' design schedule.
• Review and ensure compliance with the county's and Reds' needs and constraints regarding the overall project budget.
• Monitor detailed estimates of cost changes.
• Review all payments to the construction manager and architect.
• Review and approve change orders, which are changes in scope of signed contracts. |
Lessons learned from an estimated $45 million in cost overruns at Paul Brown Stadium will serve the county during the Reds ballpark construction.
Or will they?
Those lessons actually will serve the Reds because it is the team, not the county, on the hook for any construction costs over $280 million.
Suzanne Burke, director of Hamilton County Administrative Services, said Reds officials contacted her last week with concerns about a potential delay in hiring a project manager.
County staff recommended that commissioners hire Gilbane Building Co. last week, but commissioners delayed voting on the matter.
After discussing the issue Monday, it appears that vote will happen next week.
“Whichever firm is selected, they should understand they are responsible,” Commissioner
John Dowlin said. “This is our person. The project manager is the county, as far as I'm concerned.”
Duties of the project manager include coordinating construction activities, evaluating and approving key personnel and coordinating infrastructure improvements such as gas, electric, telephone, cable and sewers.
A construction auditor hired by the county to look at the cost overruns at Paul Brown Stadium said change orders were not scrutinized closely enough, that the project manager job was not defined well enough and procedures were not defined clearly enough.
Public Works Director Gary VanHart said all of that has been accom plished in the way the county described the job when soliciting proposals from bidders.
“This is absolutely a change in the way we've done business,” Mr. VanHart said. “We are being much more defined in the scope of the job, and that's one of the main points the auditor brought up.”
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