Study: Lansdale Borough Hall, Police Station in Poor Condition

During a time where Lansdale Borough is tasked with finding a future purpose and solution for the money pit known as 311 W. Main Street, Lansdale's leaders received another shock to their systems Wednesday night regarding the conditions of and

Lansdale Police Station does not work as a police station, according to Spiezle Architectural Group Inc., and needs 77 percent more space. Not to mention there's a major termite infestation in the areas of secure records storage and no fire alarm system.

Borough hall is below par and could offer health hazards for its occupants. Water leaks in all directions on the exterior, but the interior looks better than it is.

Borough hall, which was originally the Lansdale Borough Post Office in the 1930s, hasn't been touched in 24 years. The police station - 40 years.

"A 40-year period is a lengthy period. That's a long duration to go without any major improvements," Spiezle Group Inc. Pennsylvania Division President A. Stevens Krug said at Wednesday's presentation.

Other words used to describe both facilities during the presentation included "inefficient," "inadequate," "aged" and "poor."

Spiezle Group also offered an estimated price tag to fix physical issues both buildings.

For Lansdale Borough Hall, total identified physical condition improvements could cost $1.9 million. 

For the police station - $1.3 million.

Those improvements, however, would not address spatial, layout or safety issues for either building.

All in all, the facilities study looked at 46 borough-owned facilities: more than 20 buildings, 11 parks and 10 open space parcels totaling more than 162 acres.

Spiezle Group was contracted in May 2011 for one year of work to inspect the facilities and grounds, assess maintenance and develop a long-range plan. However, their work is not done yet.

There are a total of 356 listed improvements in the 250-page facilities study. Spiezle has estimated construciton costs across the board at $4.1 million, plus 25 percent for other costs.

The total cost to address all condition issues on all properties is $7.383 million.

"It's a living, breathing document for you," said Krug. "Tonight, we will touch on key critical elements of it."

Krug said Spiezle assembled a great deal of data, which was input into a database that the borough now owns.

"If you have seen Moneyball, they built a team on statistics. That's what you now have - a lot of statistics to build your team of facilities," Krug said.

Lansdale Police Station

Both borough-owned properties are plagued with American Disabilities Act issues, code issues and environmental issues, according to the report.

Lansdale Police Station is an area of 8,4000 square feet. According to Spiezle Group's Christine Seage, in order for it to be efficient, the station should be 14,800 square feet.

The lack of space, according to Seage, creates poor working conditions and safety issues for visitors and staff.

"The building is sitting, trying to function in the 21st Century with aged systems and spaces," she said.

She said there is no proper public intereface in a secure zone in the lobby of the police station. The window is too small, she said, and the police components on the other side of the glass are too visible to the public.

"The entrance is not designed well," she said. "There's no large element to help find your way in in an emergency situation."

Seage said the police station does not serve its purpose due to infestation, ADA issues, poor environmental conditions and aged components.

"It is plagued with infestations of rodents and insects," Seage said.

Rich Delp, of Spiezle Group's engineering division, said the police station lacks a fire alarm system. Its emergency generator system is 10 years old and the electrical infrastructure is original and beyond its expected life. Furthermore, there are at least three radiant heat leaks that cannot be found.

Seage continued with the layout issues of the station: the communication room is inadequate; the women's locker room is too small; the sallyport for police vehicles is not secure, enclosed and partitioned; detainees are not in secure areas; cell blocks are accessible by a main corridor with access to an exit; cells with restraint chairs are inadequate; cell doors are not sliding solid doors; the day room serves as the place for eating, writing reports, evidence collection, weapons cleaning and briefing - it's too multipurpose; and there is no allocated space for files.

Lansdale Borough Hall

The interior of Lansdale Borough Hall is plagued with infrastructure issues, non-compliant ADA issues, aged flooring, walls and ceiling finishes, and envelope issues that have caused water damage throughout the building.

"Borough hall was constructed two years prior to ADA guidelines," Krug said. "It is not considered ADA accessible."

The exterior doesn't fare better. Envelope issues on the outside of borough hall include rotting roof flashing, cracking parapets (wall-like barriers at the edge of roofs), poor cast stone copings and roof membranes, missing weep holes for water trapped behind walls to escape and inferior single-pane wood windows.

"It's a 25-year-old roof," Krug said. "It's come of age."

Delp said borough hall's mechanical units are five years old and requires maintenance that is higher than expected for a system that old. Humidity levels are way off in borough hall, the HVAC is inadequate and there are severe issues with the boiler.

Council Vice President Paul Clemente asked about the health of workers in borough hall.

"Is there a cause for concern?" Clemente asked.

"There could be some risk," Krug said.

One big thing borough hall is missing is an elevator. Krug said the entire second floor is not accessible due to a lack of an elevator.

Krug and Seage spouted off other problems with borough hall: no canopy to the building to block visitors from the weather; no assignment of functions on the first floor; no direct, clear destination for the welcome desk; no signage; a limited public interface in the finance department or codes department, and no immediate access to the codes department; and a meeting room that is not conducive to presentations with modern technology.

The Remaining Conditions

Other properties listed in poor condition by Spiezle include the parks and recreation maintenance building and the third floor of 421 W. Main Street - known as the District Court of Judge Harold Borek and formerly the old Lansdale Borough Hall.

Spiezle found numerous properties to be in fair condition, including the borough electric building, the wastewater treatment plant, the Wissahickon Park building and the Aging and Adult Services building at 421 W. Main Street. These properties, Krug said, suffer from ADA issues and mechanical equipment that has gone past its life expectancy.

The borough-owned properties in the best condition are Lansdale Public Library, the parks and recreation facilities, the public pools, the public works garage, the Lansdale Historical Society facilities and Lansdale District Court.

"Age has a lot to do with the condition of the facilities," Krug said. "Keep that in mind."

Council and Public Reactions

Council President Matt West said, tongue-in-cheek, that the presentation cannot be concluded with applause.

"Everyone knows council is about making educated decisions," he said. "It doesn't take a rocket scientist to interact with the buildings to get an understanding that it doesn't function correctly."

Krug told councilman Dan Dunigan that Spiezle could "noodle around" with the concept of combining both buildings as one main facility.

"From a council perspective," Dunigan said, "the thought that will rue the day is what is that number? What does it work out to? At $100 a square foot, it's $3 million. At $300, it's $6 million. Just to polish it, we are at $3.6 million."

Councilman Mike Sobel felt the presentation was an eye opener for council.

"Band-Aids do not make it better," he said. "We will have exactly the same issues. We would not have 77 percent more space."

Councilwoman Mary Fuller likened the issues to 311 W. Main Street in that the borough has learned "the hard way to fix what is already there."

In response to a question from resident Linda Breithaupt, Dunigan said there is money in the budget to direct toward these issues.

"We developed a long-range capital project list - a $30 million to $35 million list - that includes building improvements," Dunigan said. "The roof is in the list of ongoing projects. There's a lot on there. Most are put on hold awaiting the findings of this study."

He called the study a "benchmark."

"Five years from now, we might not be here," he said. "But if we don't do it now, then when?"

Clemente said the study helps to determine not just what money exists, but how it is allocated at this point.

Sobel added that the borough has to approach this from a business perspective.

"We have to spend money as wisely as possible. Numbers can get scary," he said. "We have to think of this as a long-term investment."

Sobel said you can fix 10 things, but what happens when Number 11 breaks.

"Let's do it right and do it once," he said.

Resident Jean Fritz suggested building a whole new facility on an open borough parcel. Resident Nancy Frei agreed that the project must be done right the first time as part of a long-term goal.

Community Development Director John Ernst said Spiezle has documented every single piece of borough land in great extent.

"The document is extensive as to what the borough owns as assets. It's our responsibility to maintain those assets for all generations to come," Ernst said.

Councilman Jack Hansen said he was present in 1988 when it was dedicated and opened as borough hall. 

"The building was used very hard. I thank you for the in-depth report to let us know the condition we are in," Hansen said. "We will look into this as council and see what's best for the borough."

Following the meeting, West called the presentation's bulk "overwhelming."

"I certainly sort of expected it. Once you see it in writing and all the things that need to be done, I find it overwhelming," he said. "My inclination, on behalf of the majority of council, we are going to continue to be proactive and we will use this as a roadmap to improve the facilities within the borough."

He said the buildings are for the taxpayers and council needs to be good stewards of the facilities.

"It's not about the tax monies; it's about what are we doing with the property we have. If it's not useable and creating safety and health issues, we are not doing our due diligence."