An accessible ramp at City Hall will be built off-site, delivered in pieces by truck and assembled here, the city engineer said Monday.

“I ordered the parts to be pre-cast concrete,” said Jon Sander, city engineer on the accessible ramp to be on the building’s West Fourth Street side.

The bids are to be returned by contractors interested in the project by 1 p.m. April 16, he said.

Using a previous architect’s design, Sander was able to bring the cost down. It is estimated the ramp could cost upwards of $500,000, but that might not be the case, he said.

Recently, the cost of steel doubled, but the design standards were done by Gannett-Fleming, of State College during prior city administration. Those were incorporated in the bid specifications, he said.

Another part of the accessibility requirements at the building includes a total rebuild or modification of the first-floor elevator, he said.

The ramp and elevator must be completed by Nov. 10, the eight-month deadline stated in a consent decree the city signed with Roads to Freedom: Center for Independent Living and advocates for the disabled who threatened a federal lawsuit.

The settlement was approved March 10 by U.S. Middle District Judge Matthew W. Brann.

“We want it (the ramp project) to be inclusive and fit the facade of the building,” said Misty Dion, CEO of Roads to Freedom Center for Independent Living. Such a ramp will benefit disabled individuals accessing City Hall, help the UPS delivery man and the mother with a stroller, Dion said.

“It will be for everyone,” she said.

The elevator inside City Hall is safe to use but must be modified to be wider, build in user-friendly buttons, help those with vision issues and the timing of the doors on the car adjusted so they don’t close too quickly, especially for those using wheelchairs, Dion said.

Mayor Derek Slaughter was in the conference with Dion Monday on the accessibility projects, however, attempts to reach the mayor for comment on the ramp and elevator projects were not successful.