Gym repair costs increase… again

BY PRU SOWERS

KONK LIFE STAFF WRITER

 

The cost of repairing the Frederick Douglass Gym in Bahama Village is rising fast.

The fee to install a new roof and fix the serious structural problems in the building was estimated at $1.7 million in January. However, when the bids came in last month, the lowest bid, submitted by D.L. Porter Constructors, was just under $2.1 million. And that does not include $200,000 spent back in 2013 for the project design blueprints or the $247,500 cost to renovate the nearby Douglass Band Room to house a Monroe County Health Department clinic. The clinic, which had operated out of the gym building for years, will have to move because the repairs will affect the wing where the clinic is located.

Key West City Engineer Jim Bouquet said a jump in building projects in the area has created a high demand for contractors. Of the five companies that attended a pre-bid meeting for the Douglass Gym project, only two submitted proposals.

“Really just the market, the current construction market, which has not been very competitive,” Bouquet said about the reason behind the increased budget. “Everybody is quite busy and the prices reflect that.”

And the budget could go even higher. The $2,083,910 construction charge does not include a contingency fee, a set-aside fund of usually 10 percent of a project’s total cost that is used for unforeseen building costs. Bouquet said he has asked for money from the fiscal year 2016-17 city budget to cover any contingencies.

“I’m not sure we’ll get it,” he said, referring to the current budget workshops that are taking place in city hall. “I don’t think I’m going to need it. We’re going to push forward with what we have.”

One possible way to fund a contingency fee – the fee is a standard practice in any large-scale building project – is a direct purchase program the city will use for the Douglass Gym. Instead of D.L. Porter purchasing the necessary building materials, the city will buy them directly from the supplier, saving the sales tax. On a $2 million project of this size, the tax savings could be considerable.

“Any savings we’ll get from that we’ll roll into the project. That should provide us with some cushion,” Bouquet said.

City Commissioners unanimously approved the D.L. Porter bid at their June 21 meeting. Construction is expected to begin in August and last nine months to a year.

Funding for the gym repair will come from multiple sources. Half — $1 million – will come from the sale of the city-owned Pier House. Another $250,000 will come from the Caroline Street Corridor and Bahama Village Community Redevelopment Authority. The rest will come out of the city’s infrastructure fund, used to fund repairs and renovations to city-owned property.

Renovations to the Douglass Band Room, located two blocks away from the gym, were completed at the end of June. Initially, the health clinic was going to be able to stay where it is during the renovation – in a wing of the gym building at 111 Olivia Street that does not need repairs – where it pays no rent to the city but provides out-patient health services to the residents of Bahama Village. But when inspections of the gym building turned up more serious structural problems than originally expected, the clinic was in trouble.

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