OLATHE, KS – Johnson County broke ground on new Public Works facilities in Olathe. The two new buildings will be LEED certified and provide a number of energy-saving features. The new fleet maintenance facility will be 22,250 square feet in size. The county expects the entire project to start at the end of May and finish during the first half of 2012, though it expects to finish the fleet maintenance building at the end of 2011.

Some of the “green” features in the buildings include the following: a geo-exchange system that utilizes the ground under and around the building to assist in heating and cooling the office and operations areas; natural lighting for the main office and training area, which passes through insulated windows; landscaping features that keep rainwater on-site, where it’s used to water vegetation rather than end up in storm drains. The county added that each building will have a FEMA storm shelter to provide safety for the Public Works employees working at the complex.

Some of the existing structures will remain in place, specifically the two salt domes, the bridge building, fuel island, and some storage buildings.

“We’re going to see some real energy savings,” said
Mac Andrew, director of the Department of Public Works and Infrastructure. “It’s a real common-sense way of using taxpayer dollars for something that’s needed for Johnson County Government in providing road and other infrastructure needs vital to the Johnson County community.”

The total cost for both buildings is $14,560,000, including an $11,506,199 contract with McCownGordon Construction to build them.