During this evening’s Harrisburg City Council meeting, City Council members voted 5-2 to reject the selection of Alexander Building Construction Co. to serve as the construction manager for the rebuild of the Broad Street Market’s Brick Building. Eric Hagarty, Chair of the Broad Street Market Alliance, is providing the following statement in response to this decision:
“Ten months after a tragic fire burned down one of Harrisburg’s greatest assets, we are deeply disappointed that City Council has failed to select a construction manager to begin the reconstruction process. Harrisburg’s own Alexander Building Construction Co. was chosen by Mayor Williams’s administration after receiving the highest score in the standard independent scoring process used to award public contracts at all levels of government. Despite Alexander Building Construction Co.’s decades of experience overseeing the construction of major projects like Beaver Stadium, Chocolatetown at Hershey Park, and the Lancaster Medical Center, City Council members inexplicably rejected the independent selection.
City Council’s decision means that the procurement process will have to be redone and reconstruction of the Brick Building will not begin for at least another six months. Local small businesses who were displaced by the fire will continue to go on without income and the community members who depended on the Market for their groceries in an area otherwise defined as a food desert by the USDA will have to wait even longer now - despite on-the-record admissions by many members of Council that Alexander Building Construction Co. had the most qualified proposal.
At every step of the process since last year’s fire, central Pennsylvania has stepped up to help the Market. Local businesses have donated materials, labor, funds, and expertise. Mayor Williams’s administration and state officials have marshaled support every time they have been asked. We urge Harrisburg City Council to do the same and meet this moment, respect the urgent needs of the community, and reconsider tonight’s decision.”