Akron METRO Regional Transit Authority is going to build a new, expanded maintenance facility with sustainability in mind.
The Federal Transit Administration awarded METRO RTA $37.8 million Monday to build a LEED-certified maintenance and operations facility to support a fleet of nearly 250 vehicles.
“This need is really the number one facility need that we needed to go forward to better serve the community as we look in the future,” Chief Operations Officer Jarrod Hampshire said. “As far as what Metro looks like for things like alternative fuels and things like that, we really identified this maintenance facility as the sore spot, so to speak, of what was holding us back from moving forward.”
LEED Certification is a globally-recognized standards for buildings that are energy efficient and more cost efficient and better for the environment.
The facility will be built using LEED-certified materials and will feature recycling bins and electric vehicle charging stations for employees and customers, according to the U.S. Green Building Council.
METRO’s current maintenance building was built in the 1980s, and is used for vehicle upkeep ranging from heavy repairs to body work. The new building will give Akron METRO the capacity it currently lacks, Hampshire said.
“Every day is kind of a struggle from an efficiency standpoint,” he said. “We're really trying to fit a square peg in a round hole every day around here where we try to make sure that our vehicles that we rely on to serve the public for Summit County, trying to make sure that they're safe and reliable … for our customers.”
The new maintenance facility will be 107,000 square feet with 28 maintenance bays, nearly tripling the capacity of the current maintenance building, Hampshire said.
“This facility allows that space for growth, which is something we don't have right now,” he said. “That's definitely a huge design factor moving forward.”
The building will also be equipped to handle METRO’s growing fleet of electric busses, Hampshire said, with two already in service and two more to come.
“We might not know what we need yet,” Hampshire said, “but we're designing the square footage to make sure we can accommodate whatever we might need.”
The new facility will be constructed adjacent to the Akron Metro RTA Headquarters on a lot that formerly housed the Akron Auto Wrecking junkyard.
“We're really trying to add to the neighborhood, add to what the neighborhood looks like, and add a facility ... that people can be proud of versus what was there, which was a junkyard,” he said. “So, when you kind of factor those things into a grant application, it does look very appealing.”
Construction is expected to begin late summer or early fall.
