Contract awarded for JFS work

Contract awarded for JFS work

YOUNGSTOWN — The Mahoning County Building Commission has awarded the contract for interior demolition in the county Department of Job and Family Services’ permanent quarters at Oakhill Renaissance Place to Murphy Contracting Co. of Youngstown.

The company bid $611,000 for the work.

JFS moved last month from rented quarters at Garland Plaza to temporary quarters at Oakhill, which is the former Forum Health Southside Medical Center.

Murphy’s bid for the job, which will include wall removal and asbestos removal and abatement, was substantially below the architect’s estimate of $927,728.

The work, awarded today, is part of the $4.8 million estimate for preparation of JFS’ permanent offices. Last month, visiting Judge Richard M. Markus lifted his temporary restraining order against renovating permanent JFS quarters at Oakhill when he ruled against Ohio Valley Mall Co., a division of the Cafaro Co., which had filed a taxpayers’ suit that sought to rescind the county’s purchase of Oakhill.

OVM, which is JFS’ former landlord at plaza on the city’s East Side, filed the taxpayers’ suit in Mahoning County Common Pleas Court.