KINGSTON >> Repair work at the Andy Murphy III Midtown Neighborhood Center has been approved by city lawmakers, some of whom said they were glad to see the building being fixed.
Alderman Steven Schabot said during Tuesday’s meeting of the Common Council that the Murphy Center, at the corner of Broadway and Hoffman Street, is an example of unique architecture in the city.
“It’s a really nice building that has slowly fallen into disrepair, and I’m glad to see everybody’s support of getting it back to its past glorious state,” said Schabot, D-Ward 8.
The council voted 7-0 Tuesday to authorize repairs to the center and for the city to borrow up to $700,000 to finance that work. With the council’s approval, the city would pay PCC Contracting Inc. $508,875 to address structural concerns at the center. The remainder of the money would pay for additional work at the building, as well as some administrative costs. There also is a 10 percent contingency fund built into the project’s cost.
Council Minority Leader Deborah Brown said she, too, was glad the center will be renovated and updated.
Brown, R-Ward 9, said the center is one of the largest sites in the city to house residents during disasters but that, unfortunately, it has begun to look like a disaster itself.
City Engineer Ralph Swenson has said PCC Contracting will be responsible for addressing exterior masonry deterioration at the building, as well as inadequate roof drainage and structural framing deterioration of the balcony end supports in the gymnasium area.
Additional work at the center will be put out to bid separately and paid for through the borrowing authorized by the council, Swenson said. The additional work includes ventilation for the gymnasium and rehabilitation of the facility’s pump station.
The gymnasium ventilation will cost about $20,000, while the pump station rehabilitation could cost $40,000, Swenson has said. He said roof drainage piping to the street is estimated to cost $30,000, while separation of the heating control zone could cost $20,000.
The neighborhood center, which was built as an armory, dates to 1873.
PCC Contracting is expected to finish the exterior work at the building by Thanksgiving, Swenson has said.
Alderwomen Nina Dawson, D-Ward 4, and Maryann Mills, D-Ward 7, were absent from Tuesday’s council meeting.