Dirt begins to move at PRPA headquarters

FORT COLLINS — Construction for the proposed new Platte River Power Authority building in Fort Collins is underway, after two years of concentrated planning, preparation and design.

As the process of obtaining permits from the city moves forward “We’re digging in the ground,” said Karin Hollohan, chief administrative services officer. 

PRPA, a not-for-profit utility, generates and delivers energy and services to Estes Park, Fort Collins, Longmont and Loveland.  The new headquarters will replace the current 42,000 square foot campus that was built in the 1970s.  The 56,000 square foot building will be part of a site that includes separate buildings for a warehouse and a garage, which will add another 35,000 square feet to the total.

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Timeline for project completion targets the warehouse and garage being ready for occupancy in early 2019.  The new headquarters building will be ready by the end of 2019, according to Hollahan.

The current PRPA headquarters buildings will be torn down as soon as the new ones are up and fully running so employees and customers can continue business as usual.  Since the operation is 24/7, work can’t stop during construction. 

Once the new headquarters is functional, demolition of the old buildings will free up space that can be used to add more facilities as needed in the decades to come, Hollahan said.

“I’ve been involved since the beginning,” she said, adding that the project began with a look at what it would take to make the campus best suited for moving into the future.  The price of upgrading HVAC, plumbing and electrical systems compared to the price tag for building from the ground up made a new campus more cost effective in the long run.

The new headquarters will be able to manage more advanced technology, support more sophisticated security, meet Americans with Disabilities Act codes and provide more space for individuals and groups to meet.

And with solar energy and LEED Silver certification in the plans, the new headquarters will demonstrate PRPAs intention to be an energy leader in design, according to Hollohan.

“This is our business — we want to be an energy leader,” she said.  “We’ll continue adding energy services and want to make sure we can do that and serve our community over the next several decades.”

One of the requirements of federal regulations is that as an electric utility, PRPA must have security systems that go beyond the capacity the old campus would be able to support.  The current standards around transmission grid management stretch beyond how the industry was run when the current headquarters was built.

Meeting the increasing needs of a growing area population requires more resources as well.  The new headquarters is designed to better manage the technologies needed to maintain an evolving electrical grid and critical infrastructure that can continue to develop with the community.

The current number of PRPA employees is 150 onsite with a number of additional staff positions added yearly to fill the need of providing service.

Budget for the new campus is approved for $46.6 million.  “We’re still waiting on final bids from contractors,” Hollohan said.

Official groundbreaking for the new campus is scheduled for June 5 at 10:30am at 2000 E. Horsetooth Road in Fort Collins.