Council approves BAC job

Private donor paying two-thirds of renovation cost

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BROOKINGS – The Brookings City Council on Tuesday approved awarding bids to Visions Construction Group of Tea to do renovations to the Brookings Arts Council building, most of which will be paid for by a private donor.

The donor has pledged two-thirds of the total funding, or about $481,000, and the city will pick up the remaining third, said Kevin Catlin, assistant to the city manager. The city has budgeted $175,000 for the project. Visions Construction offered a low bid of $312,515 and the unit price of $33 per square foot for plaster repair.

City Manager Jeff Weldon illustrated how badly the renovations are needed at the old Carnegie library.

“Turn the coffee pot on, it blows the circuit,” he said.

Catlin said there were plans last year to upgrade the mechanical system of the 103-year-old building, but it was “more labor intensive than we thought,” and the decision was made to renovate the entire building. He ran down the list of renovations planned, including installing forced air conditioning to replace the inefficient window-style units, replace the electrical system and include LED lighting, replacing all the flooring to hardwood, replace the classroom concrete slab and even it out to make it easier for people with mobility problems, make the storage more accessible, and retrofit the bathrooms to make them ADA compliant.

The building is currently closed and the plan is to finalize the construction and be open by June 1, Catlin said.

“Can’t tell you how excited I am,” said Councilor Patty Bacon.

In other action this week, the council:

• Approved a conditional use permit for a commercial dog kennel on the Highway 14 bypass. Shayna Rohl owns the 17.17 acres at 230 Highway 14 Bypass and is the person requesting to put in the dog kennel, which has a limit of 20 dogs.

• Cancelled the scheduled study sessions set for Feb. 21, March 21 and April 18.

• Recognized the winners of the Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Day and gave awards to the students who placed or got honorable mention in kindergarten through ninth grade.

Contact Jodelle Greiner at jgreiner@brookingsregister.com.