EAST PROVIDENCE — The deteriorating interior of the East Providence Police Department headquarters located on Waterman Avenue will finally get a much-needed and significant set of renovations.

At its meeting Tuesday night, Sept. 3, the City Council unanimously approved the recommendation from the administration of Mayor Bob DaSilva to accept a bid from the East Providence-based ADS Construction, Inc. to perform the upgrades.

ADS was one of six firms to respond to a Request for Proposal, submitted the second lowest bid of $3,009,000.

Most of the monies to pay for the project, $2,049,000, were previously set aside by the Council out of the city's remaining share of federal COVID-19 pandemic relief American Rescue Plan Act funds. The remainder will come from a Municipal Public Safety Infrastructure program grant in the amount of $960,000 the city received earlier this calendar year from the state. That program is funded with $11 million in State Fiscal Recovery Funds (SFRF) also through the ARPA.

The significant renovation to the 40-year-old building previously included the replacement of the station's roof, which was paid for by using $305,800 of unencumbered and unallocated Capital Improvement funds from the the city's FY 2022-23 budget.

The five other respondents to the most recent RFP were the costliest EW Burman, Warwick, $3,431,400 followed by Collins Construction Co., Fall River, Mass., $3,347,801; Bentley Builders, Warwick, $3,149,149; H.V. Collins Company, Providence, $3,112,956; and the lowest submission by Tower Construction, Cranston, $2,979,000.

As written in the resolution calling for approval, the project includes "renovations to enhance the facility’s functionality, improve security measures, and provide a safer and more effective working environment for law enforcement personnel."

The renovations call for the replacement of roof-top HVAC units, the building's boiler, reallocating existing space, replacement of flooring, ceiling and lighting in the upper and lower corridors.

Other interior upgrades are the painting of two existing partitions in the lower corridor, installation of high impact wall coverings and wall guards on the upper corridor as well as carpeting in the locker rooms and a new fitness room. Locations requiring such access, like bathrooms, are also being made Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) compliant.

A few exterior improvements include a new roll down door and added windows.

The renovations as a whole, the resolution read, will "more efficiently meet the needs of a modern police force."

The resolution, noting the move of the city's dispatch center from the EPPD headquarters to East Providence Fire Station No. 3 in Rumford, concluded by noting the "renovated (police station) will better serve our residents and the men and women of the East Providence Police Department."

"As you know we've been working with JCJ Architecture to come up with a renovation plan for our building, a much-needed renovation plan," EPPD Chief Chris Francesconi told the Council. "And we are recommending ADS Construction for the job."

In providing background for the decision, Francesconi said while Tower Construction was the low bidder, though $30,000 less, after the bids were made public in late July of this year the city received an "unsolicited comment" critical of quality of Tower's performances on a couple of projects.

The chief continued, saying their evaluation of Tower "uncovered quite a few issues that gave us pause" like going over budget and enacting several change orders leading to rising costs and alleged poor quality of workmanship, "which gave us great pause."

Francesconi said those who offered the commentary did not want to go public with their indentities because of the potential for future litigation with Tower.

"We also did our due diligence with ADS and it was quite the opposite," he added.

The chief noted there were meetings with both companies upon receipt of the bids. When asked if either had been sanctioned by the state contractor's board, they each replied no, but subsequent investigations found Tower had, in fact, been reprimanded.

The expected timeline for the start and finish of the project is as soon as possible with the end of February 2025 as the "target completion date."

Keith Mercy, an Associate/Senior Project Architect for JCJ, also made a brief presentation to the Council about the renovations.

Mercy said the plan is to have the work performed in three phases to keep the building operational during the work.

"That's why the construction is a longer than anticipated because we have to phase it because it's a 24 (hour)/7 (day) building that has to stay open," Mercy added.

Ward 4 Councilor Rick Lawson asked the chief about roughly $500,000 in unused funding available for the project.

"Do you have everything the EPPD needs from the plan?" Lawson inquired, to which Francesconi replied, "Yeah, we're very happy with the plan...We're very, very happy with it."

Mercy, who has been the project for about six months, to the Council the aim was "to maximize the space of the station without changing the footprint by reorganizing department spaces and maximizing underutilized space in the building."

Mercy mentioned changing a defunct two-lane interior firing range, dormant for several years, into increased storage space and an area for the K-9s to be housed temporarily, if needed. Another upgrade is a dedicated eye-wash station one of the now mandatory components for the department to be accredited.

The former dispatch area and lobby on the first floor is being renovated, Mercy said, allowing for more direct interaction with the public. The Officer in Charge will be situated adjacent to the location as are new interview rooms/office for domestic violence cases to be managed.

Francesconi highlighted the upgrades to the lower cellblock area, saying the changes will "improve safety down there." A new suspect interview room is also intended for the space.

The renovated Detective Division space, he added, is also being improved to allow for "some privacy" for victims, to "get out of that fish bowl that it is right now."

The chief said making the lobby smaller is "huge for us, providing those two soft interview rooms right off the lobby also provides some privacy" while not entering the secure area of the building.

Francesconi also said the addition of exterior windows was "another huge" element of the project to "get some nature daylight" inside the structure.

"There's a lot of sensible solutions to the issues we were having (included) in this design," the chief added. "We're thrilled."