Observations all along the line - Kimball & the Southern Panhandle First

Council awaits refined designs

Designers continue to refine the initial design to cut costs and come within a reasonable budget for the Kimball Event Center renovation project, this the Kimball City Council heard from City Administrator Daniel Ortiz at their regular meeting on Nov. 17.

Necessary updates include restrooms that meet the standards set by the American’s with Disabilities Act, however, additional improvements will likely be postponed.

“We are trying to shave off a considerable amount,” Ortiz said.

LED troffer lighting is planned for the ball room though LED can lighting on the original plan has already been eliminated for a savings of nearly $40,000.

“LEDs save you in the end, it is also that all building codes are going to that for the green effect,” council member James Schnell said. “You don’t have a lot of leeway on that anymore for other lighting options.”

Though costs are being cut, flooring remains a priority for some areas, including tile for the entryway. Council member Christy Warner warned of the folly in cutting corners on florring, stating that while the commercial carpeting is pricier, in the long-run, the durability of the flooring is worth the cost.

“We looked at the carpet, and it looks nice but it is not super fancy,” Warner said. “They were pretty basic commercial carpet. You are not going to save a lot of money by downgrading but you are going to wear it out faster.”

One of the costliest elements originally planned that will be cut are four additional restrooms, with two accessible from the fitness center and two from the ballroom – at an expense of more than $100,000 according to Ortiz.

Ortiz added that costs would be reduced considerably with the addition of a single facility accessible from the fitness center. The added restroom would safeguard the remaining event center from wanderers in search of a facility.

Warner stated that the first cut she recommends is the bathrooms for the fitness center due to the cost of running additional plumbing to the north end of the building.

“If you put the bathroom in, you still have to run piping to it,” Warner said. “It’s not the best solution; we would like to have bathrooms back there, it makes sense, but if it has to be cut – cut all of it.”

“I got a response back from the contractor and the figure they seem to be hovering around with some of the amended changes is roughly about $666,000 dollars,” Ortiz said.

In addition to ADA-compliant restrooms near the front of the building, the city will be required to install a fire suppression system at more than $250,000, however, plans for the system must also be redesigned.

“Some of the components for the fire suppression system are going to be redone. We were initially going to have the flush-mount sprinkler heads, I think we are going to go with a more exposed design that is slightly cheaper,” Ortiz said. “Initially the fire suppression system was going to come along the west wall, but then we realized we have very limited space for our property line along the west side so I will actually be meeting with the contractor and designer and going over a couple of these items. We will look to bring in the main sprinkler line, which I think is a six-inch line, coming in along the north side of the building.”

Funding for the project comes from three sources, with just over $350,000 in a trust, about 80,000 in Keno funds for city use, and $250,000 from the State of Nebraska, according to Ortiz.

“So the budget of $670,000 roughly, I would say for this project is very, very tight. I would continue to look at some more cost-saving measures,” Ortiz said.

Ortiz planned a walk-through with the contractor and designer to find additional areas for cost savings, including doing demolition in-house.

“I want to have the contractor come out here and do a walk-through so that he is aware of what they are going to encounter and make sure his numbers are as refined as can be,” Ortiz said.

The board will receive further updates once the details are complete; the matter is expected to be put out for bids again in December since the original bids were rejected.