The Fort Lauderdale Police Headquarters building, now under construction, is facing serious safety structural issues that include the fact that it may not be able to withstand a major hurricane, according to an independent report.
The report found eight safety issues that “warrant attention either as soon as possible or in the near term," noting the entire structure under construction is at risk. The report was prepared by Wiss, Janney, Elstner Associates Inc.
The report comes a year after the project was delayed due to a design flaw that caused a visible crack in a roof slab of the building’s northwest corner. In February, City Commissioners were told that the repairs to fix that crack were completed and that the building was safe.
AECOM, the engineering firm that designed the building, has previously agreed to pay for any repairs and monitor the building for a period of five years. According to Commissioner Ben Sorensen, that included paying for the independent review conducted by WJE.
Sorensen has said he found the report “very concerning.”
“ We work with AECOM on other initiatives across the city, and generally AECOM has performed well. This is a significant issue where they failed proper oversight,” he said.
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The project broke ground in June of 2023 after voters approved a $100 million bond. By the time construction started, the project’s costs rose, and estimates now are north of $150 million. With the new repairs outlined in the draft report that number could go even higher. But the city expects AECOM to shoulder the cost burden — not taxpayers.
“ We asked the city attorney to do is to draft an agreement memorializing AECOM’s responsibility to mitigate all of these efforts,” said Sorensen.
Many of the issues highlighted in the report have a manner of expediency in their recommendation because the building, which is supposed to be able to handle the force of a Category 5 hurricane, would not currently meet that code requirement. The Atlantic hurricane season begins on June 1.
The county commission is expected to go over the report at their Commission Conference meeting on May 20, and a presentation will be given at the Conference Commission meeting on June 3.
