THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT 
              Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.

DATE: Monday, February 20, 1995              TAG: 9502200073
SECTION: LOCAL                    PAGE: B1   EDITION: NORTH CAROLINA 
SOURCE: BY PAUL SOUTH, STAFF WRITER 
DATELINE: MANTEO                             LENGTH: Short :   49 lines

DARE COUNTY SET TO OK DESIGNER OF PROPOSED CENTER

A Dare County panel will make a series of recommendations about a proposed new government complex to the county Board of Commissioners at its meeting today.

On Friday, the Capital Improvements Committee agreed to recommend that the Washington, D.C., firm of Spillis, Candela/Warnecke conduct the pre-construction phase of the government complex design. The architectural firm should include site selection, cost estimates and a preliminary design for about $142,000, committee members said. Now, the county's seven-member Board of Commissioners must decide whether to approve the recommendation.

Initial phases of the design process should be completed by August. At that time, panel Chairman Clarence Skinner said, county officials will decide whether to build the complex.

Skinner said earlier that without public support, the new government offices will not be built.

However, if the project is approved, the D.C.-based architects would provide bid specifications and oversee negotiations for contractors and sub-contractors. The firm also would provide architecture, engineering and other services.

The fee for the work in the second phase of the government complex planning process would be 8.57 percent of the total cost of the project. County officials estimate the total construction price will run between $15 million and $20 million.

The committee decided to withhold recommending Spillis, Candela/Warnecke for the construction management aspect of the project. Committee members plan to seek input from the Washington firm, as well as others.

Skinner said he was pleased with the recommendations.

``Assuming we get the commissioners' approval, we anticipate a contract for phase one services by Friday,'' Skinner said. Earlier this week, computer models shown to the North Carolina General Assembly revealed a trend that could jeopardize the project - a combination of tax cuts and recession in the next two years could put the state in a billion-dollar hole.

``As we move toward August, we hope that issue will be better defined and better quantified,'' he said. ``It will definitely be one of the factors we consider.''

KEYWORDS: DARE COUNTY BOARD OF COMMISSIONERS by CNB