Public Buildings

About Us

The Public Buildings Division of the Public Works Department is responsible for the "maintenance, construction and repair of municipal buildings." This encompasses over 80 active buildings and properties along with their mechanical systems and equipment. The Public Buildings Division strives to provide a safe and comfortable environment for the operation of effective government, education, public safety, and enjoyment. Our goal is to provide emergency and routine facilities services in a timely and effective manner.

This Division serves all public buildings, which include City Hall, Police Headquarters, Fire Stations, Public Schools, Public Library, Elmwood Hall, Veterans Hall, Old Jail, Old Library, Head Start Building, the Public Works Complex, and the Public Parks buildings. We also provide assistance and support to the other divisions within the Public Works Department, as needed.

Staffing for this Division includes a Superintendent, a Secretary-Bookkeeper, a Foreman, 7 state-licensed trades personnel (2 electricians, 3 HVAC technicians, and 2 plumbers), and 2 home improvement contractors (2 general maintenance mechanics) with 2 staff vacancies at the moment. Our small, efficient, and highly skilled staff provides 24/7 maintenance, repair, and emergency facility service to all municipal departments and educators housed in our city buildings and Schools.

Our Accomplishments FY 2020 to 2021

This fiscal year, the Public Building Division received 1754 new requests for maintenance/emergency service, which is in addition to our school snow removal, in-house projects, and planned preventative maintenance work. We also completed 1383 requests for service. The Division attempts to perform as much maintenance and repair work as possible in-house with its own skilled staff. Additional assistance for major repairs and special tasks that cannot be handled by divisional staff is provided through contractual arrangements with local professional contractors.

Our staff also performs and manages minor alteration projects that save the City of Danbury a considerable amount of money. Examples of more recent projects, which vary in size and scope, are:

  1. New work order system.
  2. Continued security and COVID-19 safety upgrades in various buildings.
  3. Boiler replacement at South Street School.
  4. New BMS systems for the Train Museum, Metro-North Station, and the Old Library.
  5. Roof replacement at Danbury Library.
  6. Replaced Honeywell EBI systems at Great Plain and Pembroke Schools with new Niagara BMS systems.
  7. Rebuild of DHS boiler refractory chambers, replacement of the C-wing heat exchanger, and C-wing heat loop repairs with glycol addition.

As the Division is responsible for facilities services, it strives to achieve energy-efficient buildings. There are several energy conservation projects planned for 2021 including looking into solar arrays and converting regular exterior and interior lighting to LED. These projects will save both maintenance time on lamp replacement as well as operational energy. They will take place at the city public buildings, parks, and street lighting. The Public Buildings Division operates and maintains several building operation and energy management systems for the City buildings and public schools.

There are several planned projects that will be managed by Public Buildings in 2021- some of which were held up due to the COVID-19 pandemic which include:

  • Replacement of the additional roof at City Hall.
  • Solar Project for schools and city buildings.
  • RTU replacements at DHS.
  • Elevator upgrades at DHS, BMS and other school locations.
  • UST replacements at BMS, RPMS and King Street campuses.
  • Water tank replacements at Broadview Middle School and Pembroke School.
  • Various office/room upgrades at City Hall.

City department heads and authorized school personnel have the ability to electronically send and track work requests to our maintenance management server and schedule their work. This system has increased divisional responsiveness, accountability and productivity.