While the city of Aberdeen continues the process of closing on a new museum location in the 100 block of West Wishkah Street, the facility could be operational sooner than previously expected.
During the Aberdeen Board of Museum and History’s monthly meeting on Feb. 1, assessment contractors for the city shared that construction on the new location could be completed in 12 months, if an aggressive approach is adopted. The update was provided by Bernie O’Donnell, President of Rock Project Management Services (RPMS), who summarized a draft assessment of facility construction costs that is not yet available to the public.
“It’s trying to create an objective, realistic cost of what it’s going to take to bring the building up to par without really anything extra: just to make sure that it’s functioning and it’s safe, and that it’s worthy of the artifacts that would be stored in it,” said O’Donnell of the estimate in last week’s meeting.
Seismic upgrades, improvements to the electrical, lighting, and heating systems, and the removal of lead and asbestos were identified as priorities to bring the building up to life safety standards. O’Donnell also stressed the need for a fully developed design plan in order to move forward with construction and improvements.
“The first order of business is to do some design work to understand what it would take to bring it up to par so that it can be occupied for its intended use,” he said. “That takes some time to get the permitting, to get the design, and to get it out to bid.”
The building’s foundation and enclosures, such as the roof, were identified to be in pretty good shape, but O’Donnell foresees necessary modifications to widen the storefront in order to accommodate larger artifacts and museum systems, such as the sprinkler system.
The assessment anticipates nearly $1.25 million in direct construction costs, and $352,000 in management and other costs, for a total of nearly $1.6 million in costs to bring the building up to par.
“It’s nothing fancy, but it would get it up and running so the ground floor could be occupied with the museum, and then some upgrades to the upper two floors: very modest upgrades, mostly cosmetic for life safety for the most part,” said O’Donnell.
During the strategic planning workshop portion of last week’s meeting, several members of the public shared their vision for the new space. Some were hesitant about the location on West Wishkah Street, with one member of the public proposing that with such high renovation costs, the building should be torn down and replaced.
Estimates from RPMS place the anticipated cost to renovate the building at about $57 per square foot, a notable difference from the potential new construction costs of at least $350 per square foot. Much of the new construction costs would come from the process of creating a new foundation, as well as the additional cost to tear down the existing structure.
Museum board members were informed by O’Donnell that a proposed plan to use a phased construction and occupancy approach would not have major time benefits, but would cost the city more. Aberdeen Mayor Pete Schave and members of the board had previously hoped that staggering improvements to the building would allow the board, volunteers, and eventually the public to engage with the collection sooner.
“It didn’t really save much time overall. It’s better to get the contractor in there, and to get it all done once and for all, and then they’re not in your way either,” said O’Donnell.
The city is still in the process of finalizing the $350,000 purchase of the old Salvation Army building in downtown Aberdeen. In the meantime, the museum board is identifying various avenues to cover the anticipated renovation costs for the structure.
