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Photos Vincent Guadazno
A structural engineer’s report advises halving the capacity of Town Hall auditorium until repairs can be made. |
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Photos Vincent Guadazno
Wainscoting in the east wall of the auditorium has been peeled away to expose rot from water damage. |
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Fix it or close it
Engineer delivers dire cautions on state of Town Hall
By Pru Sowers
Banner Staff
PROVINCETOWN — A structural engineer’s report issued to Town Manager Sharon Lynn Monday recommends closing Town Hall at the end of the year unless substantial repairs are made to the deteriorating building.
In addition, to reduce stress on the building, the architectural firm hired to assess the condition of the 122-year-old building, McGinley Kalsow & Associates, recommended — and selectmen approved Monday night — that the capacity of Town Hall auditorium immediately be cut in half, to 210 people.
The short-term impact of halving the auditorium capacity is that the “State of the Town” public forum scheduled for March 31 and the April 7 Annual Town Meeting will be moved to the multi-purpose room at Veterans Memorial Elementary School. Longer term, event promoters who had booked the auditorium for summer concerts and films are scrambling to find alternate venues.
In addition, Lynn recommended that a Special Town Meeting be held this summer to ask voters to approve borrowing an undetermined sum to begin repairs before the end of the year.
“At this point, they [structural engineers and architects] consider it an urgent matter. My intention would be to have bid documents sent out by August and award the bid sometime in mid-September with a start date for mid-October. I think we need to have a summer Special Town Meeting in order to have the approval for the funding source. We can’t wait,” Lynn said.
In January, McGinley Kalsow presented a report to selectmen laying out dozens of structural, mechanical, electrical, plumbing and fire protection deficiencies that need immediate attention. The report recommends 15 substantial repair priorities for the exterior of the building alone. In addition, while the boiler is in good shape, the report states, the rest of the heating system, including ventilation, needs to be completely replaced. And the building’s fire protection, electrical and plumbing systems are “all near the end of their service life,” according to Wendell Kalsow from McGinley Kalsow.
Since then, however, the structural engineering firm of MacLeod Consulting finished its report, which prioritizes the safety repairs engineers believe are critical, including replacing columns that are too short, causing the building to sink and buckle in some places.
“We do know the building has sunk. We see evidence at the bent window stools. … I can demonstrate through routine engineering stress analysis that the truss support columns in the walls are dangerously overstressed,” Arthur MacLeod, principal of MacLeod Consulting, wrote on March 13 to McGinley Kalsow. “If funding does not permit repairs for this year, I recommend closing the building until repairs are made.”
“It is virtually impossible to predict when you may or may not have a failure,” said Russ Braun, Provincetown’s building commissioner. “There are pieces of the building, from a structural standpoint, that have failed. From a real life standpoint, they’re holding together and have for a long time.”
Braun agreed that the building essentially needs to be gutted and basic systems replaced. While there have been no cost estimates discussed yet, “it’s going to be expensive,” Braun said. Alix Heilala, municipal finance director, said that she would recommend that the town borrow the money with a 20-year bond, which the town should be able to obtain at approximately a four percent rate.
Other sources of funding include grants, community preservation funds and private donations, Heilala said.
The building department staff Tuesday began calling event promoters who had booked the auditorium this summer. Chief among them was Gabby Hanna, executive director of the Provincetown International Film Festival.
“We do the opening and closing night films there, plus the awards ceremony and all the big films. It’s our biggest house,” Hanna said of the auditorium. “We’re going to have to be creative and find other venues. In town, though, it’s tough.”
Bart Weisman, executive producer of the Provincetown Jazz Festival, traditionally uses the auditorium for the summer festival, which draws hundreds of jazz lovers to the auditorium. He said he might still be able to use the auditorium at the 210 capacity.
“We obviously wouldn’t get as many people in there but we could keep our presence in the center of town,” he said.
Other large events that traditionally use the auditorium include the Carnival concert, sponsored by the Provincetown Business Guild, and the annual country-dancing weekend sponsored by Gays for Patsy.
“We can’t put people up there when I have a report on my desk saying we shouldn’t. God forbid something happens,” Lynn said.
“It’s public safety and we can’t ignore public safety,” Selectman Austin Knight said.
According to McGinley Kalsow, structural problems have led to the failure of the exterior envelope of the historic building, opening it to wind and rain that has caused severe damage to the interior of the building. In January the architects gave a detailed description of the roof and four elevations of Town Hall, outlining a long list of cracked mortar joints and temporary repairs that keep the windows — which are original — from closing completely.
In addition, caulk is damaged, gutters are clogged and some flashing has failed. As a result, water has gotten inside the building, rotting wooden windowsills and leaking down onto the auditorium stage.
A potentially larger issue is the fact that the columns holding up the roof are undersized, leading to a repeated shifting of roof rafters that has opened the roof and siding to water infiltration.
Town voters agreed in 2005 to spend $750,000 on repairs to Town Hall. So far, $112,720 has been spent: $67,720 to McGinley Kalsow and another $45,000 spent earlier to create a detailed set of drawings of the interior and exterior of the building. While no cost estimates for repair and restoration have been discussed, it now appears the price tag will run into the millions of dollars.
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Mar 27th, 2008