Work on the $54 million Santa Rita Water Reclamation Facility on Friday was cacophonous and dusty as workers demolished the administration building.
It is the first building to be demolished as part of the project, but the grass, sand volleyball court and basketball court have been removed from Santa Rita Park, City Engineer Gregg Boysen said in an email.
The wastewater treatment plant must be rebuilt to increase its capacity and improve its ability to remove phosphorous, nitrogen and ammonia. Construction is expected to be complete in mid-2019.
Knocking down the administration building and other structures will make room for needed aeration basins, which are concrete vaults.
“The aeration basin function is to bubble air into the process mixture to promote the breakdown of the organics,” Boysen said.
Staff and laboratory space has been relocated in anticipation of the administration building being reduced to rubble.
Some staff formerly housed in the building are working in the Durango Chamber of Commerce building, and eventually all of them will work there, Boysen said. The city is purchasing the Chamber building, and the Chamber eventually will move to 2301 Main Ave., according to an announcement in April.
New locker rooms have been installed in the Chamber building, and workers are remodeling the lobby into a laboratory.
Temporary laboratory space is set up in the existing plant, Boysen said.
There will not be much more demolition in the immediate future because other buildings have a function in the wastewater treatment process and must remain in service, Boysen said.
A large crane will arrive from Chicago in early July for the construction process, according to the city’s website.
The new administration building was not bid as part of the larger wastewater treatment construction project because bids came in millions of dollars over the engineer’s estimate.
The administration building will be put out for bids in about a year, and it will give local contractors the opportunity bid on the project, Mayor Dick White said in a utilities meeting in June.
Wastewater treatment construction can be viewed live online at www.durangogov.org/SantaRitaWRF.
mshinn@durangoherald.com
