THE CITY OF NASHUA “the Gate City’
Economic Development
To: James Donchess, Mayor
From: T. Cummings, Economic Development Director
Ce: B. Bagley, Director Public Health & Community Services
Date: May 6, 2019
Re: Contract for Design Services for Public Health Building
The Office of Economic Development in partnership with the City’s Office of Public Health &
Community Services along with Building Maintenance solicited proposals for design services for the
Public Health Building in an RFP #0275-073118 released this past summer. Specifically, the services
sought are to assist with the renovation of 18 Mulberry Street.
I along with Bobbi Bagley and Jay Hunnewell solicited proposals from firms who have past experience
renovating and designing municipal buildings. Three firms responded and only two firms were deemed
valid to move forward through the procurement process. Jay Hunnewell, Kim Kleiner and I reviewed the
proposals and evaluated them on the following criteria: qualifications/experience, past performance and
service on similar projects, proposed approach to scope of work, responses in interviews and cost.
Dennis Mires a principle of “The Architects” was chosen unanimously due to their comprehensive
knowledge and their strong past experience working with municipalities, specifically Nashua on this
project.
Iam recommending awarding a contract for design services for the amount not to exceed $143,000 plus
miscellaneous expenses to The Architects. However, the way the proposal is structured the city is only
obligating to paying $24,000 for schematic design related services at this time. A written authorization to
proceed is necessary before the balance of the contract can be expended. The Purchase Order for the city
should only be issued for $24,000.
We built this additional safeguard into the contract to ensure we are designing a project with the available
budget, which is approximately $2.5 million dollars.
As a reminder the scope of work is focused on the building’s envelope: Doors, Windows, elevator,
creating ADA accessibility, upgrading HVAC and other miscellaneous improvements as necessary to be
code compliant.
