Members of the Chilkat Center Advisory Board want the Haines Borough Assembly to commit to upgrades for the facility that was the focus of a 2008 study that said needed improvements would cost about $4 million.
“The roof has been needing serious attention for a number of years as has been officially pointed out in prior board actions,” the board wrote in a Nov. 8 letter to the assembly, borough manager Mark Earnest and Mayor Jan Hill. “The situation has reached the point that the building will be seriously compromised unless the roof is replaced this year.”
Steve Vick, assembly liaison to the Chilkat Center Advisory Board, referred to the letter at the Nov. 9 assembly meeting.
“At their last meeting, (board members) were discussing whether there’s other ways to try to secure funding, other than going through the legislative priorities,” Vick said.
The Chilkat Center is a borough-owned, relocated former cannery building.
A May 2008 condition survey prepared by PND Engineers of Juneau put the total project cost for repair and improvement at approximately $4 million and set the replacement cost at around $11 million.
“This is something that’s beyond what the borough can afford to take on, itself,” Earnest said.
He said the borough would seek grants to help finance the potential project.
“The funding sources that traditionally have been available to communities, such as the Community Development Block Grants, the funding levels have decreased to the point where there’s like $5 million to $7 million for the whole state of Alaska,” Earnest said.
He said the effort to secure funding is “going to be tricky.”
“The borough is going to have to probably pony up some money,” Earnest said. “We have to show that we’re committed to this project … It’s a pretty tall mountain here to climb, but we have to try.”
The 49-page report on the Chilkat Center evaluated the architectural, electrical, mechanical and structural condition of the building that was “last renovated in the late 70s to early 80s.”
According to the report’s executive summary, “The day the consulting team visited it was hosting a conference that drew numerous Canadian tourism and marketing providers, that included meal service, provided space for aerobics classes, broadcast studio and offices for the public radio station, while church services are periodically held in the basement.”
The report outlined several areas of improvement, starting with an architectural analysis: “First, the low slope roof and gambrel roofs do not properly ventilate nor include proper insulation. As a result, ice dams cause leaks and other problems that re-occur each winter. Secondly, the building was designed prior to (the Americans with Disabilities Act) becoming law. Significant changes are needed to better serve this population.”
Mechanically, the “ventilation systems have reached the end of their service life” and the heating system is “inefficient” and “of poor design and construction.” One structural problem is that “roof rafters and beams are overstressed when subjected to code prescribed snow loads.”
The $11 million replacement cost included 10,150 square feet for office/meeting rooms, plus a 5,166-square-foot theater, 2,712-square-foot locker/dressing room, 1,500-square-foot multi-purpose room and a combined 700 square feet for toilets and food service.
Borough facilities director Brad Maynard said a new structure might have a much lower cost.
“The building itself is about 24,000 square feet, and I had done a quick estimate on a project that size for new construction,” he said. “It came out to about $3.5 million or $4 million replacement cost. People will go, ‘Oh, that’s way too cheap,’ and I’m sure that if you wanted to add a significant amount for amenities and this and that and the other thing, you could easily add another half a million dollars to those costs.”
Maynard said he often plans for a 50-year lifespan on a building.
“Do you repair a building that needs $5 million worth of work, or do you replace it?” he asked. “A lot of times, you look at the building’s replacement cost vs. its refurbishment cost, and a lot of times 50 percent is the cutoff point to where you either rebuild or replace.”
The Chilkat Center Advisory Board has unanimously passed a resolution “to increase borough awareness and concern” for the center’s future.
“The Chilkat Center is an incredible resource facility for the greater Haines community hosting numerous programs and having the potential to bring in out of town revenues through conventions, festivals, special events and other presentations that can attract visitors and participants to Haines,” the board wrote in the Nov. 8 letter. “The facility is unique, historical and the envy of many theater enthusiasts throughout the state.”
The letter listed the names of board members Tresham Gregg, John Hunt, Janet Kurz, Annette Smith and Michael Stark.
Assembly member Greg Goodman said the borough needs “to do something quickly” for the long-term sustainability of the Chilkat Center. “So goes the roof, so goes the building,” he said.