Civic Center project nearing completion
The city is requesting $400,000 of additional funds from the downtown tax increment financing district to cover a change order to finish the Civic Center façade project.
During the May 24, Downtown Development Partnership meeting, Interim Planning Director Tom Micuda said that he doesn’t think the changes will use all of those funds, but they want to make sure they can cover the last change order.
Micuda said that it’s a large project that exposed more issues in the structure as it progressed. He said the change order will cover those issues to finalize the project.
Civic Center façade project set for summer completion
The DDP voted to approve the request and it will next go to City Commission in June for final consideration.
The Civic Center façade project was initially set to be completed in February 2023, but officials decided to stop work through the winter, pushing completion to this summer.
The scaffolding was removed from the front of the building over the last two weeks and work is shifting to the northside of the building.
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In April 2021, City Commissioners approved a $5.41 contract to Talisman Construction Services for the project and in October 2021, commissioners approved a $300,000 change order, bringing the total contract to $5.71 million.
The project was funded through the Downtown Tax Increment Finance District, which was established to encourage and support public safety, blight elimination and increased code compliance in the downtown urban renewal area.
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Commissioners granted budget authority of $6 million in downtown tax increment bonds, paying about $400,000 in annual debt service through the downtown TIF.
Micuda said that as of last week, the downtown TIF had a total of about $4.4 million with about half of those funds committed to projects.
Members of the DDP discussed the importance of TIF funds and the recent legislative attacks on the program, in particular from a local legislator who criticized the Civic Center project.
Without using TIF funds, Micuda told the DDP that the city would have to fund the change order though general bond or the general fund, which is the main city operating fund, or potentially CARES Act funds.
Civic Center façade project progressing
In 2016, the city conducted an engineering study on the façade that included removing a panel and that made contractors aware of some of the underlying conditions of the building.
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City officials have discussed the need to repair the Civic Center façade since at least 2011 and in June 2020, City Manager Greg Doyon restricted access to the front of the Civic Center due to public safety concerns.
City officials have discussed the need to repair the Civic Center façade since at least 2011 and in June 2020, City Manager Greg Doyon restricted access to the front of the Civic Center due to public safety concerns.
$5.4 million Civic Center repair contract on April 6 City Commission agenda
A piece of the back panel became dislodged, triggering the evaluation of other areas around the Civic Center, including “substantial cracking and buckling of the front panels,” according to the city.
As a precaution, the city installed barricades to protect the public from falling debris.
The Civic Center building was built in the 1930s, under the Works Progress Administration. The Works Progress Administration was renamed in 1939 to the Work Projects Administration, according to the city’s history of the building. The program was created by Franklin Delano Roosevelt’s presidential order and funded by Congress with passage of the Emergency Relief Appropriation Act on April 8, 1935.
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