City of Madison and Dane County
A rendering of the men's shelter on Bartillon Drive.
Inflation has pushed costs higher for the permanent men's shelter planned for Bartillon Drive.
Additional space for daytime guests and programming, a kitchen and a backup generator are some of the amenities in the new men’s permanent shelter on Bartillon Drive that would be covered by millions of dollars in additional funding from the city of Madison and Dane County.
Mayor Satya Rhodes-Conway’s capital budget proposes an additional $2 million and County Executive Joe Parisi’s capital budget an additional $1.5 million for the joint project. The total cost of the shelter now tops $24 million.
As with many other recent public projects, inflation has driven up the cost of the shelter. Project manager Jon Evans told Isthmus in July that due to rising costs, planners had to consider cutting the backup generator, geothermal heat exchanger and a kitchen as they met with city and county officials to decide whether to make cuts or boost the budget.
They did a bit of both. Staff had initially wanted a 50,000-square-foot facility, but trimmed that to 42,000 square feet. The shelter originally planned to offer only single beds, but now two-thirds of the facility’s beds will be bunk beds to save space. “We also skinnied up here and there to be able to add about 2,000 square feet of day use space that was previously dedicated to other things,” says Evans.
One of the biggest decisions for staff was whether to include a kitchen in the facility, which would cost millions of dollars upfront but eliminate the need for catered meals.
The kitchen “will also allow the operator flexibility with volunteers or potential partnerships with Madison College. So it was important to maintain it as part of the project,” adds Evans. Knowing more funding was coming let planners keep in many of the features they wanted as they finalized a floor plan.
“It is further evidence from city and county leaders of their commitment to the shelter, and to the collaborative partnership we will need to make it successful,” says Community Development Director Jim O’Keefe.
The project is scheduled to go out to bid Feb. 1.
“Inflation is making public works bidding really difficult,” says Evans, who notes that several bids on recent projects have “come in well above” the city’s estimates. Bids to build the Madison Public Market recently came in millions of dollars over budget. Two city alders have sponsored an amendment seeking additional borrowing to cover the gap.
The mayor is also proposing an additional $2 million for the $16 million Reindahl Imagination Center and $12.5 million for the completion of the $140 million State Street Campus Garage redevelopment.
