October 22, 2024

RK&K Providing Construction Management & Inspection on Leesburg Police Station Expansion

Go in the field with Construction Manager Chris Kirby, CCM as he serves as the in charge of construction management for the project overseeing a 14,000-square-foot one-story addition to the existing building.

The Leesburg Police Department Public Safety Facility located at 65 Plaza Street NE located in Leesburg, Virginia was first constructed in 1997, when the town housed approximately 24,000 citizens. In the years, the population has doubled, and the local police force has grown with it.

To account for this, a 14,000-square-foot one-story addition to the existing building will be added. In addition, the project will tackle the renovation of the current space, HVAC improvements to the Support Building, the addition of electric vehicle charging stations, expansion of the secure parking area, and a second fiber connection.

RK&K’s role is staff augmentation on behalf of the Town of Leesburg’s Department of Public Works and Capital Projects.

Leesburg Police Station.

Construction Manager Chris Kirby, CCM is serving as the project’s Construction Manager, representing the Town of Leesburg on a daily basis.

“We act as an on-site liaison between the Town and the General Contractor, coordinate interruptions with the Police, and provide escorts inside the secure areas of the existing building,” said Kirby. “We provide reviews of work in progress and document progress of the work.  In addition, we lead all progress meetings, review pay applications, review progress schedule updates, put together Change Orders for the Town, and helped with bid reviews when selecting the general contractor”

Kirby often walks the site to catch up with the general contractor and confirm activities and subcontractors for the day. He will continue to do this several times a day, taking photos to document progress.  On any given day, he may have to escort contractors inside the building, and some locations require further notification based on the sensitivity of the room, such as the Criminal Investigation Suite.

“While contractors are working in the secure areas, I have to stay with them until they are finished for the day.”

Excavating at Leesburg Police Station.

He also coordinates the work of any third parties, such as utility companies, that are directly contracted through the Town.

For Kirby, an interesting aspect of the project is the forethought for any later needs for the police department. For example, the roof for the addition is on an elevated concrete slab and has been designed to be used as a second floor, and elevator pits were built into the foundation but capped for later use.

Another unique feature is how RK&K was approached by the Town of Leesburg. We have a comprehensive engineering on-call task order contract through our Fairfax office, and this was the vehicle we used to pursue this project.

The frame of Leesburg Police Station.

“The Town of Leesburg has been very pleased with RK&K and approached us to see if we did vertical CM/CEI projects too. We shared with the Town our capabilities which led to a new task order. This has been the single biggest task order that the Town of Leesburg has ever created. It shows the level of trust they have with RK&K.” added Senior Practice Development Leader, Chris Simon PE, CCM.

Work on the expanded police station began in the fall of 2023 and is expected to be completed in spring 2026.

“We were able to bring in qualified professional field staff such as Chris Kirby, CCM to help lead these efforts. RK&K can now use this work as a stepping stone to further develop our firm’s experience in the vertical CM/CEI practice within Virginia and beyond,” said Simon.

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