The Associated Press
Dover, Del. (AP) -- A nationally recognized firing range design firm lost out to a local business with no such experience when officials selected a contractor for the Delaware State Police indoor firing range in Smyrna a decade ago, records show.
The firing range, completed in 1998 at a cost of $3.3 million and once touted as a state-of-the-art facility, has been closed due to environmental problems, including lead contamination blamed on faulty ventilation.
State police also say the bullet trap at the range does not work properly, and that exposed concrete in the ceiling increases the risk from stray or ricocheting bullets. The facility, where ammunition and chemical weapons are stored, has no sprinkler system.
Clark Nexsen Associates of Norfolk, Va., was hired to conduct a feasibility study in the early 1990s for a new police firing range and was among the firms that subsequently bid on the architectural and engineering contract.
The three state police officers on a five-member selection committee ranked Clark Nexsen as their first choice, but the contract went instead to a local company, JAED Corp. of Smyrna, the Delaware State News reported Thursday.
The two other members of the committee were representatives from the state Department of Administrative Services’ Division of Facilities Management.
“I feel Facilities Management basically skewered the scores by rating JAED number one,” said former state police Lt. William Bryson, now chief of the Camden Police Department. “They had absolutely no experience in that kind of design.”
“We were told the air ventilation system (JAED) designed would not work even before they started construction,” Bryson added.
Vincent Meconi, currently secretary of the state Department of Health and Social Services, was secretary of the Department of Administrative Services at the time.
“I’m puzzled to understand how three people were outvoted by two on that committee,” Meconi said. “My recollection is that there was no argument as to who was going to be selected to design the range.
“Nobody ever raised an objection that I’m aware of,” he said.
Edward Ide, vice president of JAED Corp., said his firm was awarded the contract because of its extensive experience and expertise during 26 years of working on projects in Delaware.
“About 90 percent of our work is in the public works sector, including state facilities,” he said.
Ide said that although JAED was awarded the design contract, the actual design came from Clark Nexsen.
“Clark Nexsen did the design of the building,” Ide said. “As the consultant, they were part of the design team. They were there the entire time on the project.”
J. Wayne Abernathy, a mechanical engineer with Clark Nexsen, said his firm was asked only to do the feasibility study and subsequently submitted a planning document.
“I don’t remember us doing anything after that,” Abernathy said. “I know we did not design that range.”
In 1999, Clark Nexsen was awarded a $35,000 contract to find out what was wrong with the range and make recommendations for corrections. The firm estimated repair costs at $900,000 to $1.3 million, but state officials did not act on the recommendations.
More recently, an Illinois heating and air conditioning firm estimated that bringing the range up to standards could cost more than $2 million.
“Many of these problems would not have occurred if you had hired an A/E firm who had previous experience designing this type of specialized facility,” Abernathy wrote in a 1999 letter to facilities management officials.
In the letter, Abernathy said JAED had asked Clark Nexsen to act as consultant, but that JAED’s only request was for Clark Nexsen to provide information on bullet traps and review the mechanical drawings.
Abernathy said the review of mechanical drawings was requested only after the project design had been completed.
“Neither the state nor the design A/E firm consulted with us during design,” Abernathy wrote.