Greensburg plans to make limited space count in new public works garage

Greensburg has had to scale back its ambitions for a new public works garage to replace the one destroyed by fire last year, but efficient use of space will help city workers be a lot more effective with just a little more room, according to Public Works Director Tom Bell.

Officials are considering plans for a new garage that is 12,960 square feet to replace the 12,000-square-foot structure destroyed last October.

“It just came down to dollars and cents for the city,” Bell said.

He originally asked city council to consider seeking a new, larger property for the new garage, or at least constructing a significantly larger building on the current site on South Urania Avenue.

However, the city’s insurance only will pay to replace the garage with another of the same size. Any additional expenses would fall to the city.

The economic impact of the coronavirus pandemic has made Greensburg’s financial future uncertain, so city leaders decided on a more modest upgrade.

The old garage had toolboxes scattered in different areas and a station for painting trucks that went unused, Bell said. The new proposal has larger open bays for city vehicles, and new office space for city workers.

“It’s just better use of the existing space,” Bell said.

The plan would also add a simple metal building to house some of the city’s other pieces of equipment.

The existing salt storage shed on the property would be moved to another city-owned location to make room for the additions.

A creek running alongside the South Urania Street property made for some tricky decisions, said architect Scott Maritzer of Civil & Environmental Consultants Inc., who designed the new garage.

“The site is an odd shape due to the creek, and it was easy to see the daily challenges the public works department faced,” Maritzer said. “The site had inadequate employee parking, no defined entrance for the public and the salt storage building really limited the maneuvering of vehicles.”

If all goes according to plan work on the new garage will start in the spring and wrap up by fall 2021, Bell said.

The fire, which started in the city’s street sweeper, destroyed the sweeper, three dump trucks, a front loader, skid steer and pump truck.

All damaged equipment has been either replaced or repaired.

The city is storing most of the fleet at a Clark Street building it is leasing from Stone & Co.