Imported Italian tiles worth $75,000 will replace grubby blue carpeting in some public areas.
By ANNE LINDBERG
Published February 8, 2004
PINELLAS PARK - City Hall will have an elegant new look when imported Italian tiles replace much of the dirty blue carpeting.
It will cost about $75,000 to install the textured ceramic tiles in the entryway, the hallways on both floors, the public areas in the clerk's office and utility billing, and one office.
That amounts to about $9.40 a square foot. That cost is broken down as follows: $2.82 per square foot for the tile and other materials; $2.83 per square foot to remove the old carpet; and $3.75 per square foot for installation that must be done at nights and on weekends, Pinellas Park City Manager Mike Gustafson said.
Gustafson installed tile in his City Hall office suite last year. He chose three patterns produced by Ceramiche Ricchetti, an Italian company, at a cost of $5,908, or $8.75 a square foot after installation, for the 675-square-foot suite, city spokesman Tim Caddell said.
Gustafson liked the tile so much he proposed replacing most of the grubby blue carpet that was installed in late 1997 or early 1998 for about $32,545, or $8.85 a yard, with a three-year installation warranty and a 10-year warranty on color fastness and wear.
The carpet will be replaced with various combinations of two of the patterns from Gustafson's office. Both are from Ricchetti's Rocks collection: Rushmore, a stonelike gray with tinges of terra cotta; and Spider, a mottled terra cotta.
European Tile and Flooring, which did the work in Gustafson's office, also will get the larger job.
The tiles can be seen on the company's Web site, www.ricchetti.it
"It's very pretty. It's a very nice-looking tile. It's unique because each piece has its own individuality," said Betsy Bianchi, who works with Ricchetti's American office.
Bianchi said she would not call the tile "high end," but "you won't find it at the Home Depot or Lowes. It's usually found in nicer stores."
Gustafson, who was a construction supervisor before coming to work for Pinellas Park, also denied the tile is high end. It was chosen, he said, for its durability and its ability to hide dirt. If something is dropped and a tile chips, it will not show because the color goes all the way through, he said.
But one tile supplier wondered about the cost.
Continental Flooring Co. of Scottsdale, Ariz., does work across the country for federal, state and local governments. The company is on Pinellas Park's bid list.
Company officials were unable to find the bid packet Pinellas Park sent out, so they could not comment on why they did not bid on the job. But Ricchetti is not a tile they have, company employee Marsha Bickler said.
Bickler said the tiles Continental usually installs in government buildings run about 45 cents a square foot, uninstalled.
"That's the least expensive way to go and the way most governments go," Bickler said.
But she conceded the Ricchetti tile would likely last for a lifetime.
Gustafson said he was unaware of any tile that cost as little as 45 cents a square foot. Tile, he said, generally runs from about $1 a square foot on up to about $15 a square foot.
"You can't even go to Home Depot and buy something for 45 cents a square foot," he said.
Under Gustafson's original proposal, the cost for the tile, quoted by European Tile and Flooring, would have been about $230,000. But some city residents and council members worried about the price.
"Is it gold-plated tile?" asked Cecil Bradbury, a former mayor.
Council member Ed Taylor said, "I've got a concern with it also. I don't see it either, Cecil. ... To me that's an awful lot of money to put into this building simply to have some floors down."
Council member Patricia Bailey-Snook suggested the tiling could be done a little at a time.
"Kind of scares me, I guess, when it says European Tiles and Floors," Bailey-Snook said. "I think you could go to Mexico and get it a lot cheaper. They make tiles down there like you wouldn't believe. Beautiful."
Council members also were concerned because the city had sent bid packets to 52 companies. Only one, European at 8610 66th St. N, responded.
Two other companies declined to bid because of insurance requirements or unwillingness to work after hours. Others did not respond because they didn't have the tile.
Yet another Pinellas Park resident, Daniel Kelley, who is running against Bailey-Snook for the council, had a different concern. The noise of footsteps on the tile will distract people from their work for several reasons, he said.
"I don't know if I can say this. Even as a worker, if you hear high heels going down the hall, you take a look, see (if it's a) pretty girl," Kelley said.
Council member Rick Butler had no qualms about the deal. The city has budgeted $300,000 for improving the floors in City Hall. The bid, he said, was $70,000 under that.
"It's a budgeted item. The money is there. It can be done in segments. It can be done right. Have faith in the city manager. Let it roll," Butler said.
In the end, council members gave Gustafson free rein to spend up to $230,000 any way he saw fit to fix the floor covering in City Hall.
Gustafson decided to go ahead with the Italian tiles but decided to limit the amount that would be installed. He said Friday that officials also were able to get the price down a bit.
