Clyde EMS base moves forward with bid approval
File photo
Haywood County commissioners advanced the long-planned Clyde EMS base project Oct. 20 by approving a $2,069,955 construction contract with RYSE Construction.
The bid represents the second phase of a federally funded initiative to redevelop the Clyde Armory campus into a modern emergency response hub that will serve as both an EMS base and a regional emergency shelter, right in the geographic center of Haywood County.
The project is funded through the Community Development Block Grant program, which reimburses all eligible expenses.
Once complete, the new facility will enhance local emergency response capacity and provide additional sheltering capabilities during future disasters — a need made more urgent by recent storms that have tested Haywood County’s resilience. During Hurricane Helene, more than 100 people used the building as emergency shelter.
“I think we’re really lucky to have this building and this facility, and I think it showed its merit. It was kind of timely when it made itself available during Hurricane Helene,” said Commissioner Jennifer Best.
According to the county’s facilities and finance departments, RYSE submitted the lowest responsible bid during the formal bidding process conducted Sept. 23. Competing bids from Harper General Contractors and Cherokee Enterprises came in higher, at $2,135,000 and $2,222,752 respectively.
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McGill Associates, the county’s consulting engineer, recommended awarding the base contract to RYSE along with select alternates to fulfill Haywood County’s cost-sharing agreement with Haywood Community College to resurface the existing roadway across the site. Those additional unit-price items total $66,580, bringing the potential construction value to $2,136,535.
County Manager Bryant Morehead will be authorized to engage RYSE for alternate items up to the grant’s funding limit, pending final CDBG approval.
“The project will consist of several components,” said Tim Sisk, Haywood County’s facilities and maintenance director. “The main building that we’re going to be adding will be for ambulance storage to offset the needs that we have for our EMS base. Inside the armory facility itself, a lot of components for shelter. Anybody that was there during Helene knows sound deadening panels in the drill hall are necessary. A lot of renovation to the bathrooms, to bring them up to ADA standards. The shower facility on the lower level, we will be adding some partitions in there so more folks can benefit from those.”
Sisk added that improvements would be made to existing plumbing fixtures and that most areas could use a new coat of paint. New HVAC equipment will be installed along with additional cameras for safety. The project also includes the purchase of a battery-powered forklift, so palletized materials can be moved around while people are sleeping.
“We tried to look at it in the broad spectrum of shelter and EMS,” said Sisk, who credited Haywood County Chamber of Commerce President and CEO David Francis with getting the grant process started.
Built as a National Guard armory in 1977, the facility in Clyde housed the 211th Guard unit for roughly four decades before its departure in 2018. Afterward, Haywood County took ownership and launched major renovations to repurpose it as an emergency shelter, EMS base and community resource.
