Page 16 - Jan/Feb2017

KNOXVILLE
New Public Works Service Center is
2016 TCAPWA Project of the Year
On August 15, 2016, the City of Knox-
ville Public Works department moved
into a new facility designed to improve
operations and provide a gathering
location for the community. The new
Public Works Service Center renews and
enhances the City of Knoxville’s commit-
ment to providing top-quality services to
residents by consolidating Engineering
and Public Service operations in a single
location. The new facility also provides
a convenient, centralized location where
customers can meet with City staff or
gather for public and neighborhood
meetings.
The Public Works Service Center is a
three-story, 45,560-square-foot struc-
ture housing over 325 employees from
the Public Service Department and the
Civil Engineering and Traffic Engineer-
ing Divisions. It is located at 3131 Morris the new facility along with the rest of the neering Divisions. It includes a row of
Avenue in Knoxville, the site of the City’s Traffic Engineering Division will allow
long-standing Public Works Complex.
Public Works operations such as brush
and leaf collection, parks and greenway
maintenance, pothole patching, traffic
signals and signs, street paving, sidewalk
construction and many other services
operate out of this new facility.
The Public Works Service Center is
also home to “The Center,” an employee
health and wellness facility that is open
to all employees. The City utilizes The
Center to provide pre-employment
testing, employee physicals, random
drug tests for safety sensitive employees,
physical therapy for work related injuries,
acute care service and the focal point of
the City’s health and wellness program
called My Health. The Center features
seven patient rooms and a variety of
medical equipment normally found at a
typical medical clinic office.
The Public Works Service Center is the
first phase of a larger effort to modernize
City public works operations. This effort
has three focus areas of investment: 1)
facilities, 2) people, and 3) technology.
The new building is meant to control
facility management costs and improve
production by increasing operational effi-
16 TPW January/February 2017
By David Brace
Attendees from Knoxville were present at the TCAPWA/SWANA Annual Conference to accept the Project of
the Year Award. Left to right are: Nicholas Bradshaw, Planning and Safety Coordinator; Chad Weth, Public
Service Director; Sheryl Ely, Public Service Deputy Director; Scott Jenkins, Construction Foreman; Rachel
Butzler, Solid Waste Manager; and David Brace, Senior Director of Public Works
ciency. As demands for services increase, comfortably host gatherings of up to 125
Public Works must meet that challenge people and also contains a full kitchen.
without adding additional costs to the The community room has already been
City’s operating budget. Providing more used for committee meetings, employee
and better services through improved training seminars, a City Council work-
technology, equipment and investments shop and a neighborhood picnic, among
in personnel are absolutely critical. many other events. The community room
is available to the public to reserve for a
A major component of this consolida- variety of different functions and adds
tion and modernization effort involves an element of accessibility to the public
closing down a satellite facility that was that was lacking at the old Public Works
home to the traffic signal maintenance, complex.
sign and marking, and the parking meter
crews. This facility is extremely old and The third floor of the Public Works
inefficient and was not designed for this Service Center is occupied by personnel
type of work. Relocating these crews to from the City’s Civil and Traffic Engi-
traditional offices and meeting rooms,
each crew a dedicated work space pro- but also features an open floor plan con-
grammed for their needs. cept that is more conducive to the col-
laborative work inherent in design. This
The second floor of the Public Works floor also boasts a green roof with a wide
Service Center is occupied by the Public variety of vegetation and a picnic area.
Service Department. This department
consists of general service area crews, The defining characteristics of the
a construction division, urban forestry entire Public Works Service Center are
division, horticulture division and the its environmentally friendly features. The
administrative staff of the Public Service facility was designed and built with the
Department. In addition to these crew goal of achieving LEED-Silver (Lead-
rooms, there are several gathering areas, ership in Energy and Environmental
conference rooms, and a large commu- Design) certification. Among the many
nity room. The community room can environmentally friendly features – in