Wittenmyer renovation to be scaled back
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By Tory Brecht | Tuesday, January 09, 2007 |
The Davenport City Council is poised to approve a scaled-back renovation of the city-owned Annie Wittenmyer complex for an expansion of Family Resources services.
When the social service agency approached the city council about taking over more buildings on the century-old campus, the estimated price tag of more than $6 million sunk its chances with aldermen concerned about a
tight budget.
The proposed new lease calls for Family Resources putting in $500,000 to renovate the administration building, with the city receiving $2.09 per-square-foot in rent for 10 years to cover utilities. In addition, the city will be required to make minor repairs to any windows and make sprinkler system upgrades if ordered by the fire marshal. The sprinkler system is expected to cost between $150,000 and $200,000.
The city also will replace the administration building roof and cupola for about $300,000, an upgrade that already was scheduled in the city’s capital improvement budget.
Tom Wilson, Family Resources’ president and chief executive, said the space crunch at the agency — which provides social services to children and families and runs the SUMMIT program for juvenile offenders on the Eastern Avenue campus — is getting worse.
“Unfortunately, the demand for our services is growing,” he said, adding that Family Resources likely will ask again for a bigger expansion in the future. “This is a small step in the right direction.”
Initially, the agency wanted to expand onto the entire north section of the campus and complete exterior as well as interior renovations. However, since the complex is a designated historic site, any work would have to be accomplished using historically accurate materials, which inflates the price significantly. Window replacement alone was estimated at more than $2 million.
Wilson said Family Resources contemplated looking for office space elsewhere in the city, but prefers to remain at Annie Wittenmyer.
The renovation work needs to be completed by July 1 for the agency to meet its service obligations.
“It’s taken us a long time to work with the city to get to where we are today,” Wilson said.
n In other business at Monday’s committee-of-the-whole meeting, the city council met in closed session to discuss pending litigation. Among the legal issues facing the city is a decision whether to appeal a district court judge’s decision that ruled against the city’s speed and red light enforcement cameras. The council did not reconvene or take action after the executive session.
Previously, City Administrator Craig Malin said the staff will consider an appeal if asked by aldermen.
Tory Brecht can be contacted at (563) 383-2329 or tbrecht@qctimes.com.
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