Burke seeks design firm for planned crisis center in Morganton

Burke County opened a request for bids on Monday, searching for architectural and engineering services to design and renovate the former NCWorks building at 720 E. Union St. in Morganton. Bids are due by May 18 at 2 p.m.

County officials announced the plan to repurpose the building in mid-March. According to Dr. Katie Samuels, the county’s opioid settlement director, the building will be a 16-bed facility-based crisis center, allowing a seven- to 14-day average length of stay.

The facility will provide services for both substance use and mental health.

“I think that it will serve a large part of our population that is untreated and disconnected,” Samuels said, her voice echoing in the empty building. “We’ll actually be able to refer those people out to services (from here).”

The building is approximately 6,800 square feet, and Samuels explained that she hoped to eventually build an addition that stretches into the parking lot, expanding the space by 4,000 to 5,000 square feet.

Although, the final size and layout will be determined during design.

According to the request, the selected firm will develop a design that meets the requirements of “North Carolina Medicaid Clinical Coverage Policy 8A, state-funded facility-based crisis service definitions, and Division of Health Service Regulation licensure and physical plant requirements.”

The county specified that applying firms must have at least 10 years of experience in similar projects, with a possible slight edge for applicants with experience in North Carolina.

WHAT’S IN SCOPE

The county is looking for firms with multiple capabilities, including engineering, behavioral health design, site evaluation, construction documentation and estimation, and bidding and construction administration.

At the base level, this project involves the optimization of an empty shell of a building, retrofitting it for a secure, trauma-informed design that will allow visibility of patients for staff, while keeping patients, staff, and public areas separated.

Proposals shouldn’t go over 15 pages, not counting the cover page, cover letter, contact form, and table of contents. They should include a letter of introduction, a project approach, relevant project experience, the project team, qualifications of personnel, the project schedule, references, and costs.

Firms must be able to provide a certificate of insurance that names the county as a certificate holder.

The county plans to form a committee for selection. The deadline for submissions is Monday, May 18, at 2 p.m. All qualification packages can be submitted via mail to the Burke County Finance Office, directed to Brian Nieft.

More information can be found at burkenc.org/Bids.aspx?BidID=137.

BACKGROUND ON THE BUILDING

Samuels said that the county received a block grant that allowed them to purchase the $865,000 former NCWorks building, with the stipulation that it be developed into a crisis center.

The center will function twofold, with detox services for substance abuse cases, and first evaluations for individuals that are involuntarily committed. Samuels said she hopes this alleviates some of the strain felt in the emergency room with mental health patient evaluations.

“I definitely think this is a stepping stone on the path to getting more resources to the community,” Samuels said. “Our philosophy is the more resources we can bring into Burke County, the better.”