The Great Bend Recreation Commission on Monday approved one more remodeling project for the summer to the signature building site at 1214 Stone St.
Executive Director Chris Umphres explained to board members that the project was a long time coming and summertime provided a window of opportunity for completion.
The City Auditorium bathrooms have not been updated since it was originally built, and cleanings and regular maintenance aren’t keeping pace with its usage, he said.
“The restrooms are used all year round for all of the activities we provide in the community,” he said. “At times, the City Auditorium can have up to 1,500 people and ultimately there is one restroom for the facility. The bathroom needs to be updated, not only to meet the current ADA code, but other issues arise frequently.”
He explained that inspections have indicated that the plumbing has an incorrect slope, causing flooding on the floor. “Sometimes, it comes all the way out to the carpet,” he noted.
The bathroom partitions are repainted on a regular basis, but heat and moisture frequently cause the paint to bubble and peel. The mirrors, sinks and faucets have become problematic as well.
“And the floor, back in the day they used that little tile, which has a lot more grout,” he said. “It’s not epoxy grout so it holds in the urine smell.”
The carpet was replaced about a decade ago, “but it is showing signs of wear,” he said.
The auditorium is city property, but as the building’s primary user, Umphres believes the Rec can handle funding a remodel. “We’ve talked to them to make sure that it’s OK and we could ask them for funding,” he said. “But we are the ones that use it, the ones who maintain it and we want our Rec program to be one we can take pride in.”
Umphres noted that staff had received three bids to take care of various aspects of the remodel, with Parr Construction serving as general contractor; Jeremy King for floor and wall tile installation and Mason Plumbing for fixtures and partitions.
“The biggest hang-up we’ve run into so far is making sure that we are ADA compliant,” Umphres said. “There is one stall in each of the bathrooms but they are not up to code. To make it workable, we would lose one stall in each bathroom and everything else would be ‘plug-and-play.’” Toilets would be upgraded to low-volume, automatic flushing units, with space for a baby changing station added.
Umphres noted that the window for the remodel has been proposed from May 6 to Sept. 3, when the Rec would be concentrating on its outdoor schedule.
Project approval
After discussion, the board unanimously approved three motions for separate parts of the project:
A bid of $22,600, with authority to spend up to $25,000 on unforeseen construction changes to complete the project was approved for Parr Construction as general contractor;
A bid of $19,935.50, with the authority to spend up to $25,000 on unforeseen construction changes to complete the project was approved for Jeremy King, for floor and wall tile and installation; and
A bid of $37,307.49, with the authority to spend up to $40,000 on unforeseen construction changes to complete the project was approved for Mason Plumbing for plumbing, partitions and fixtures.
Other new business
As an information item, Umphres reported that a four-sided mural has been added as a covering to the transformer box on the south side of the Activity Center as an addition to “My Backyard Playground.” Retired Director Diann Henderson was asked to draw up and paint the original artwork; a sign on the mural gives credit to the artist.
Annual commercial insurance renewals were approved at a cost of $52,937 plus $338 for GBRC Foundation’s public official errors and omissions insurance.
