Museum hires LR contractor

CDI will work on construction costs

FORT SMITH -- Officials with the U.S. Marshals Museum have hired a Little Rock company to help update the cost of building the proposed 50,000-square-foot national museum on the banks of the Arkansas River.

A news release from the museum said CDI Contractors will work with project architects to update the estimated construction budget. CDI is expected to be the construction manager once the building begins.

Polk Stanley Wilcox Architects and Cambridge Seven Associates are revising the museum's schematic design. Once the design phase is completed, the architects and construction consultant will provide an updated cost for construction, which was $22.5 million in 2009, the release said.

"We look forward to working with CDI on this historic undertaking for Fort Smith and the nation," museum President and CEO Jim Dunn said.

A financial summary on the U.S. Marshals Museum website shows the total project costing more than $58.6 million. Of that, site work, architecture and construction, landscaping, furniture, fixtures and equipment are estimated to cost $35.8 million.

Other estimated costs are $12.3 million for exhibits; $4 million for endowment; $2.97 million for contingencies; and $3.5 million for one year of operating expenses.

With more than $28.8 million in funds raised, $4 million in operational costs paid to date and $1 million in capitalized and prepaid construction costs, the museum must raise another $37.77 million to meet the total project cost, the website summary said.

Plans for the museum include three permanent exhibit galleries, a temporary exhibit gallery, the Samuel M. Sicard Hall of Honor and a National Learning Center.

The museum will tell the more-than-225-year story of the U.S. Marshals Service, the oldest law enforcement agency in the United States, and honor the sacrifice of marshals killed in the line of duty.

Metro on 05/19/2016

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