Harford County will spend more than $2.5 million to replace the heating and cooling systems in the circuit courthouse in downtown Bel Air, part of an extensive $5.03 million project to rehabilitate the courthouse and make it more energy efficient.
The HVAC work, which is scheduled to begin in the spring, includes replacing equipment such as the chiller, cooling tower, boiler and air handling unit, as well as upgrading the boiler room and equipment penthouse, according to county bid documents.
"We're doing the chiller replacement, cooling tower replacement, boiler replacement [and] lots of other associated work that's long overdue," Barkley Creighton, a project manager with the Harford County Department of Public Works, told members of the county Board of Estimates Tuesday.
Board members voted 6-0 in favor of a $2.56 million contract with Fresh Air Concepts LLC, of Linthicum. Warren Hamilton, the County Council's citizen appointee to the board, was absent. Board members did not have any questions or comments.
Creighton said Fresh Air Concepts was the lowest out of four bidders. The highest bid of $2.77 million was offered by Temp Air Company Inc., of Baltimore, according to bid documents.
County government spokesperson Cindy Mumby said the HVAC project is the first phase of the courthouse rehabilitation. The second phase involves restoring portions of the historic, older part of the courthouse, a brick structure that was built in 1859 and faces South Main Street.
The windows, masonry and roof will be restored, and two main elevators will be replaced during the second phase, according to a project document.
"The concept behind the project is that it's an energy efficiency project," Mumby explained, noting restorations of windows and masonry are also meant to improve energy efficiency.
"These things go hand in hand with each other," she said.
She said county officials estimate the boiler replacement will begin in May, and then once the "cooling season" ends for the building in the fall, the cooling system replacement will begin.
"The entire HVAC renovation is expected to take about a year," Mumby said.
The heating and cooling systems throughout the historic portion of the courthouse, as well as an expansion built between the back of the historic building and South Bond Street during the early 1980s, will be replaced, Mumby said.
"The project will be planned with no interruption to courthouse operations," she said.
The timeline for the second phase must still be determined, and a second contract for the restoration work must go before the estimates board, Mumby said.
More than $300,000 has been spent so far, according to Mumby. The funding comes from bonds, "paygo" money in the capital budget, as well as $134,900 in federal stimulus money awarded to Harford County through the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009, according to the project document.