Members of the Hains Park Boathouse Improvement Committee (HPBIC) discussed the latest plans for the renovated boathouse in considerable detail Wednesday evening at Old Lyme’s Memorial Town Hall. After the first round of designs were rejected for non-compliance with educational building planning requirements, the committee is now pursuing Option A from the second round, which, in its first phase, involves a renovation of the existing boathouse and basketball court at the park adjoining Rogers Lake.
Led by co-chairs Paul Gianquinto and Paul Fuchs, members analyzed one item after another on the estimator’s quote to determine what might be retained or excluded as they moved towards determining the precise scope of the construction documents. Some of the many items considered included whether or not to retain hooks, lockers, benches, and rubber flooring in the boathouse; whether to change the door types and which type of finish to have on the boathouse floor.
At the conclusion of the lengthy session, Gianquinto asked for a vote to support the payment of $15,000 to Nina Cuccio Peck Architects of Old Lyme to draw up the construction documents to those just agreed specifications. The vote was unanimous with two abstentions, one by Robert Dunn, Old Lyme Parks and Recreation Committee Chairman, and the second by Don Bugbee, Park and Recreation Director.
Dunn contended that the total price of the project was still too high in view of the remaining items yet to be completed as part of the project. His argument was that the boathouse/basketball court construction price tag using the estimator’s numbers now stands at $579,931, which, when added to the approximately $77,253 already spent on architect’s fees and the $2,800 (currently unpaid) estimator’s fees gives a total of almost $660,000.
Dunn said this new total for the boathouse and basketball court represented too great a percentage of the total approved funds of $893,000. This latter number comprises the $478,000 Small Town Economic Assistance Project (STEAP) grant approved by the state in 2013 and the additional $405,000 approved by residents in an October 2014 Town Meeting.
Private donations totaling $50,000 have already been made to the Town specifically for new docks with any balance transferring to boathouse construction. Almost $41,000 has been spent on the docks from the donations leaving a balance of around $9,000 to add to the boathouse project. Thus, the final balance for the gazebo and bathroom upgrade is $232,000, though it is unclear whether there are other architect and estimator fees still outstanding.
Dunn argued that construction costs rarely come in on or under budget — in his words “without any surprises” — and so the balance of $232,000 for upgrading the bathrooms in the park and constructing a gazebo for the community may transpire to be insufficient, saying, “I don’t think we have the funds to cover the whole thing. I can’t vote for it.”
Fuchs suggested the town should “Make a less expensive bathroom,” and architect Nina Peck commented, “I can’t understand the issue,” telling Dunn, “You’ve got $243,000 for bathrooms and a gazebo.” (This figure was accidentally misstated and should have been $232,000.) Brian Ross, the project architect who works with Peck, warned Dunn, “If you keep dragging this thing on, escalation [of costs] will increase.”
Dunn then questioned whether there were plans for any fundraising “to alleviate the costs of the boathouse?” Old Lyme Selectman Arthur “Skip” Sibley confirmed, “There is going to be a significant fundraising effort.”
Fuchs chastised Dunn for not supporting the motion noting that the committee had tried to accommodate all his requests, saying, “We did address your concerns. We’re very disappointed that you’re not with us. We can’t do any more.” Ross elaborated describing Dunn’s requests as “Red herrings … and pie-in-the-sky dreams,” a charge that Dunn rapidly rejected.
A motion to adjourn the meeting was made shortly after 10 p.m.