Monday, February 25, 2013
Architectural firm Thomas Comitta Associates Inc., as part of a facilities study, suggests that Hatboro make use of existing park space and reconfigure borough buildings.
Renovate, not replace. In a nutshell, that was the overall message that Thomas J. Comitta, president of West Chester-based town planners and landscape architect firm Thomas Comitta Associates Inc. recommended to the Hatboro Borough Council during Monday night's meeting. Comitta, who has worked in his profession for four decades and represented 115 municipalities, had been hired last year to carry out a facilities study of borough-owned buildings to determine how best to plan for the future. On Monday, he shared that $2.7 million worth of "adaptive reuse" fixes made more sense than previous plans to demolish and build anew. In all, Comitta said he looked at borough hall, the adjacent borough hall annex where Victorian Village Italian…
Tuesday, February 12, 2013
The Hatboro Borough Council is awaiting a formal presentation from Thomas Committa Associates Inc. to outline how the borough can better address its facility needs.
Instead of building anew, an outside firm tasked with evaluating Hatboro's cramped and aging facilities is recommending that the borough "rearrange space," according to an official. Hatboro Council President John Zygmont said that architectural firm Thomas Committa Associates Inc. - or TCA - will make a formal presentation during the governing body's Feb. 25 to outline its recommendations. The council hired TCA last summer at a cost of $19,500 to conduct a study of borough-owned facilities. Along with the study, TCA was tasked with providing a written report, cost estimates, as well as design sketches. Under the previous Democrat-controlled council’s leadership, in 2011, the governing body paid the Omnia Group Inc. $8,900 to determine if …
Tuesday, December 4, 2012
The Hatboro Borough Council intends to apply for state grants to cover a portion of the projected $3 million upgrades needed for borough-owned buildings.
While Hatboro's consultant finishes a comprehensive analysis of borough-owned facilities, the governing body on Monday night authorized staff to execute state grant applications that could cover 50 percent of the projected $3 million expense of renovating aging buildings. Council President John Zygmont told Patch that Thomas Committa Associates Inc., - or TCA - is expected to wrap up the facilities study by mid-January. The "rough cost estimate" from the "very preliminary" review indicates that renovating borough-owned properties could cost $3 million, Zygmont said, adding, "I don't have a breakdown" of each building's cost. Zygmont said he did not know if TCA's early estimates called for the demolition and rebuilding of the antiquated and…
Monday, August 13, 2012
The Hatboro Borough Council approved a $19,500 facilities master planning agreement with a West Chester-based architecture firm.
In five months, the Hatboro Borough Council expects to have a better idea of how existing borough-owned structures can be fixed up, expanded, and, as a last resort, replaced. On Monday night, following interviews with three architectural firms last week, the borough council voted 6-0 to retain Thomas Committa Associates Inc., - or TCA – to undertake a facilities study at a cost not to exceed $19,500. Council President John Zygmont said TCA would provide a written report, cost estimates, as well as design sketches within five months. Zygmont said the firm wowed borough officials by offering suggestions to “deal with things we have,” as opposed to the sole suggestion of demolishing and building anew. “They aren’t coming in here saying ‘tear …
Thursday, July 12, 2012
The council plans to interview three architecture firms to determine which is best suited to conduct an analysis of borough-owned buildings.
The Hatboro Borough Council is looking to spend about $20,000 to get a better handle on the condition of borough-owned buildings. During Monday night’s council meeting, the governing body agreed to conduct interviews of three architectural firms – TCA Architecture, Kimmel-Bogrette Architecture and KCBA Architects - to determine which should carry out an all-encompassing facilities study. Officials decided to interview those three firms based on the proposals submitted, which show costs ranging from $19,415 for TCA to $24,400 for KCBA. A fourth firm, which submitted a $50,000 proposal, has been eliminated from further consideration, the council agreed. Ultimately, the facilities study could shape Hatboro’s future in terms of potential …
Monday, January 30, 2012
The council is hoping an architectural firm can offer direction on the best ways to address space and aging structure needs of borough-owned buildings.
Before the Hatboro Borough Council can undertake large-scale, big-ticket capital projects, it first must have a better grasp of the condition of borough-owned facilities, an official said. To that end, Council President John Zygmont said the governing body, during a recent non-voting capital budget meeting, decided to move forward with an all-encompassing facilities study. The hope, according to Zygmont, is to determine what should be done with the police building in terms of renovating or rebuilding; how the public works departments' need for space could be addressed; and what should be done about the 3,500-square-foot building – eyed for a new district court office - located within Victorian Village. Combining some or all of these …
Luvz Koalas
12:26 pm on Thursday, February 28, 2013
Eaton Park could use a larger parking lot. I do my power walking there sometimes and during the summer when the pool is open there have been occasions when I’ve had to go elsewhere because the parking lot was filled with the Hatboro Pool patrons. I know this for a fact because when I am able to park there during the summer, I have seen a lot of people either park there and cross the street to go … more ›