YOUR AD HERE »

Former Avon Town Hall demolition project to start March 1, will affect skier parking

Tasman Geosciences says project will be complete by June 1

The former Avon Town Hall building has been scheduled for demolition in the town's 2021 budget. Special to the Daily.

The demolition project for the former Avon Town Hall site is expected to begin March 1, as the town council has approved a contract of $571,000 with Tasman Geosciences.

The demolition company is based out of Denver and is currently working on the biggest asbestos containing soils remediation project in the state at the National Western Stock Show site. Following that project, the company will mobilize in Avon.

“We were given about a 35-day window to complete (the Denver project), unbelievably, and we’re just about there,” Michael Lindstrom, of Tasman Geosciences, told the town council on Tuesday. “So by the time we start (the Avon) project, we will be de-mobilizing off the National Western Stock show, and will have lots of available hands.”



The team from Tasman will also have a tight turnaround in the town of Avon. That’s part of the reason why the town council wanted to talk to Lindstrom on Tuesday before approving the contract.

In asking town staff to arrange a meeting with Lindstrom, Avon councilmembers expressed frustration with previous projects in town where contractors did not meet deadlines.

Support Local Journalism




After speaking with Lindstrom Feb. 9, the decision to use Tasman Geosciences for the demolition was approved by a vote of 6-1, with councilmember Chico Thuon voting against the contract. At a previous meeting, Thuon expressed apprehension with the town’s policy of always going with the lowest bidder.

“We haven’t been very lucky with contractors, at all,” Thuon said at the town’s Jan. 26 meeting.

Councilmember Lindsay Hardy, on Tuesday, said she didn’t expect that would be an issue with Tasman Geosciences.

“These guys sound more reliable than some of the other people we’ve worked with,” Hardy said.

Will affect skier parking

Referencing the major fear associated with the demolition project, Councilmember Tamra Underwood told Lindstrom that Avon not opening the park in time for summer would be “an absolute disaster for the town.”

But Underwood said there was pressure at the other end of the project as well, as the March start will affect Beaver Creek skiers who use the former town hall lot for parking to access the ski area via the Westin Riverfront gondola. The former town hall parking lot will be closed to the public once the project begins.

Underwood issued a strong request of Tasman: “Once you block off any skier parking, you absolutely are on-site in the very next moment working there, so those skier parking spots are not consumed by inaction.”

Lindstrom said Tasman is well equipped for the high pressure situation.

“We do work at military bases for hurricane relief for military families, whereby the general of the base is demanding that housing be turned back over and the base is up and running as soon as possible,” he said.

Short time frame, long time coming

In Avon, the town hall demolition has been discussed for years, dating back to the 2019 budget, which was prepared as town staff was moving into the new town hall building in 2018. At that time, the demolition of the former town hall building was considered for the 2019 budget, but was put off until 2020.

The demolition project did not happen in 2020 and was stalled once again to 2021.

In a competitive bid held in January, Tasman Geosciences came in lowest among the four companies to bid with an offer of $571,235. The next lowest bid was $714,987 from American Demolition, Inc.

Representatives from Tasman, sensing the tight turnaround, completed the asbestos project design and permit application and submitted it to the Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment before they were actually approved for the contract.

“We’re gonna hit the ground running with preparation for abatement on March 1,” Lindstrom said.

The asbestos abatement portion of the project — blamed for the high cost of the demolition of the 12,000 square foot building — is expected to take four to five weeks, while the demolition itself is expected to take three weeks and the remaining site work should take about two weeks, Tasman Geosciences Vice President Jon Morgan told the Avon Town Council.

“Trucking and moving material off site could potentially be impacted by weather, and that would be the only delay,” Morgan said. “We’ve got about two or three weeks of float in the schedule. … If all things went perfect, you’re looking at about nine weeks, and if we used up every bit of that float, you’re looking at 12 weeks.”

Lindstrom said he was sensitive to the fact that the park will be in high demand this summer.

“When people go to their first concert on June 1st, it will be like we were never there,” he said.


Support Local Journalism