Norwich –

The city is seeking bids for the “design, building and financing” for a three-story, 51,000-square-foot police station that either could be turned over to city ownership or leased to the city.

The project must include 50 visitor and 140 official vehicle parking spaces but would not require a parking garage.

The bid announcement was posted Friday on the city’s website, and responses are due by 2 p.m. Nov. 3 to the city purchasing office and will be opened in Room 319 at City Hall following the deadline. A pre-bid meeting will be held at 10 a.m. Sept. 25 at City Hall.

The bid advertisement leaves open a proposed site for the project and whether it would be financed by the city through a referendum bond or privately by the developer.

A police station study committee examined more than 30 possible locations and recommended the grounds of the former William A. Buckingham School on Washington Street as the best location. The school has been demolished, and the city-owned site is vacant.

Following that study, the city received two unsolicited proposals from private developers to build and lease to the city a police station either at the site of the former YMCA on Main Street or on property on North Thames Street owned by Thayer’s Marine.

The committee restated its preference for the Buckingham School site, recommended putting the project out to bid quickly and said a privately financed, leased project would likely cost more in the long run. A lease option, however, could allow the city to avoid taking the project to referendum.

“We’re leaving it open for the developers to propose financing options,” city Purchasing Agent William Hathaway said. “It could go either way.”

The advertisement states that preliminary cost estimates for the project have ranged from $15 million to $40 million and said cost would not be the only factor the city would use to weigh projects.

The proposals would be reviewed and rated by a committee consisting of the police chief or designee, the city purchasing agent, comptroller, city manager and the public works, planning and human resources directors. Others could be added to the committee by the city manager or City Council.

The committee could request oral presentations by two or more finalists and is asked to report its findings to the City Council by Dec. 1.

In November 2012, Norwich voters soundly rejected a proposed $33 million police station that would have used the former Sears building at 2 Cliff St. downtown and several surrounding properties. That project included a parking garage that added an estimated $5 million to $6 million to the project alone, along with property acquisition costs.

c.bessette@theday.com

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