The Macatawa Area Express just moved into its new $4.7 million operations facility in Holland Township, Mich., in September 2013, and is already moving forward with additional improvements at the facility.
Crews at Lakewood Construction of Holland have begun building an enclosure around the exposed bus port on the south side of the building. This will provide an additional 14 spaces of indoor bus storage. The $309,000 enclosure is being funded with unspent contingency funds left over from last fall’s facility construction. With the completion of the enclosure, MAX’s total indoor storage capacity will be 42 vehicles, and will bring the total square footage of the building and bus garage to 41,330.
The original plans for the building called for the building roofline to be extended over the bus port in anticipation that the outdoor storage area would be enclosed for inside parking. This was recommended to prevent possible leaking from extending the roof after it had been built.
The operations facility was funded with 80 percent federal capital grants and 20 percent matching state funds. The new transit operations facility includes an inside bus storage area, conference/training center, central dispatch, office areas, driver lounge and patio, driver locker room, and second floor office space. DLZ of Lansing was the architectural and design firm for the project. The facility was opened in September and dedicated in October 2014.
