EPB awarded a contract of nearly $5.9 million to J&J Contractors today to renovate the former Cavalier Corp. site on Central Avenue to house the utility's maintenance fleet.
EPB Vice President Steve Clark said the contract is more than the $5 million initially budgeted for the work, in part, because of additional site preparation and cleanup of the 11-acre site. The Cavalier site was contaminated by more than a century of manufacturing furniture, soft drink machines and other products.
The city-owned utility bought the 11-acre industrial site last year to relocate its truck and equipment fleet along with nearly 150 of its employees. EPB officials said they hope to relocate its fleet of trucks from EPB's current site at Oak Street and Greenwood Avenue by November.
The site has been largely vacant since the Chattanooga Career Center moved from the site to Eastgate in early 2008 and since TMIO Smart Ovens closed its manufacturing operations on the property.