As I mentioned in March, this was going to cost the city a pretty penny;
At that time, one of my commenters said this (Consent Agenda, Item #1);
If existing parts of this roof were done prior to 1997 or so there would be the need to install over flow roof drains and to be careful to not create dust etc if old insulation has asbestos the job could easily climb to 1.5 million or so. The one big item will be to restore or design for crickets,roof drains and insulation products. A&E May design but if fiddle faddle has to control constructive change orders then tax payer will get screwed again.
Not far off.
Like I said in March, it needs to be done. But the bigger question is why wasn’t it done right to begin with? 14-15 years later, and we have to replace the roof on a refurbished building for over a million bucks?
The worst part about this is it has nothing to do with the Washington Pavilion Management, it has to do with the construction mis-management. It makes you question new facilities like the EC and the Indoor Pool. What kind of hidden maintenance costs are creeping up on us? Heck, we still don’t know what is going on with the botched siding job.
Also, why was this BURIED in the consent agenda? Over $1.2 Million and they expect the council to just blow it off?
This is part of project 13003 in the current CIP. So I suspect the argument will be made that the council already approved this by approving the CIP, and this is just a formality to release the funds already authorized. Should be noted though the CIP lists $900,000 in 2015, this is 1.2 mill so apparently the estimate came in higher.
I would be curious why the roof needs replacing already. But my bigger issue is the overall drain this facility has been. If you look at the budget, we pay 1.6 million for this facility to be operated. On top of that there is a never ending funding we have to do for repairs and maintenance on the building, and various capital projects. Project 13003 alone has 2.7 million in expenditures on the roof and other items over the next 5 years. On top of that other projects including a $500,000 generator replacement, and $320,000 in 2018 for escalators (yes, escalators). Between operating and capital we’re spending easily 2 million, even 3 million a year on this place. For all of this we have a science center where most of the exhibits haven’t been upgraded in years, many are broken often, and the entrance fee is pretty heavy. And now apparently they charge for you to look at the local art. It’s hard for me to believe a lot of people can afford to go to this place and its events. We had a membership for a few years but gave up as the Science Center basically seemed abandoned and no one cared to update it or keep the exhibits fresh or functional.
I haven’t even mentioned some of the other capital expenditures, some of which were controversial in years past, and the debt I recall incurring for this place right out of the gate.
I’d rather cut bait and let them sink or swim on their own personally.
Not a budget line item. There’s a warranty and should be a credit. How many bids are there? A major expense, the council (not the mayor) decides this based on bidders presentation and pricing.
Read what Greg has to say. It’s sounding like the Washington Bazillion will be the first cut and sell once the incoming mayor sees the half billion debt left for he/she to grapple. Google like small campuses such as this for specific functions. Google Pay needs an SD presence for a call center and unrestricted interest. PayPal has become aside from Ebay and their looking. New commerce will be barter that replaces credit cards.
Always get a kick out of the Daily Insanity.
If Google or PayPal needed a South Dakota presence (they seem to be just fine without), they’d buy an office building or build their own. The cost to renovate a performing arts center into an office building would be enormous.
Second, let’s not pretend that the city’s entire debt comes due at once. Measuring debt service as a percentage of the city’s budget, things in Sioux Falls are still very reasonable. Not saying that future debt shouldn’t be scrutinized or that some past debt wasn’t ill-advised. But Sioux Falls hardly has a debt issue that requires “grappling.”
As to Greg’s comment, there’s actually a lot of stuff show-wise at the Pavilion that’s priced very reasonably. I think more people in the community would know that if the Pavilion made a better effort to serve a greater part of the community. Ever since Gary Wood got run out of town in 2009, the Pavilion’s programming is super-conservative, white bread, inside-the-box type stuff.
Also, Greg is dead on about the Science Center. It’s like the children’s museum equivalent of Gigglebee’s right before that went under. Nothing is ever updated and a quarter of what’s there seems broken to begin with. Hardly makes a great first impression.