Work starts on new $3.7 million CCTC building
Work is beginning on the new estimated $3.7 million facility for the Clare County Transit Corporation.
The Groundbreaking ceremony for the new 44,000 square foot facility was held Friday, September 25 at the new location – 1473 Transportation Drive in Harrison. Completion is expected by July 16, 2010. The new road is between the current facility and Airport Parkway.
Michigan Department of Transportation representatives, Clare County Transit staff, State, county and local legislators and officials were on hand for the groundbreaking ceremonies.
The new facility, designed by Hobbs + Black Associates of Lansing, will replace the approximately 20,000 square foot facility now in use and will be located in the industrial park just north of the airport on Transportation Drive in Harrison, just north and across the street from the current location.
According to Janet Foran, of the MDOT Office of Communications, “The current building is not sufficient to house the entire fleet of buses. The new facility will contain storage space for 40 buses, dispatch, maintenance and administration. Housing the buses inside will protect them from the elements and reduce fuel consumption by cutting the idle time needed to warm the buses during the winter months.” She added, “Many energy-saving ideas and materials will be used to make the building ‘green’.”
The project, which has been planned since 2004, should begin in September according to Transit Director Tom Pirnstill, and will be partially funded with $2.5 million in funds from the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act as part of the federal stimulus package and with $1.2 million in Capital Discretionary Program grants. “No local money will be used for the new facility,” Pirnstill stressed in an earlier interview.
“We are doing this mainly to have a facility to house what we have,” Pirnstill said. He said the planning started under former Executive Director Kate McNerney. Pirnstill took over the position in February, 2005.
The project is a partnership with the Clare County Board of Commissioners and the Michigan Department of Transportation. “This is the biggest stimulus package for transit facilities in Michigan,” Pirnstill said. “It will be a neat addition to Clare County and for Harrison, a good looking facility and good for the economy.”
