Columbus City Council on Tuesday night unanimously greenlit renovations to Trotter Convention Center.
The city will spend a total of about $236,000 to make the administrative offices compliant with the Americans with Disabilities Act, reorient parking and widen the sidewalk, as well as get rid of some hazardous trees in the courtyard area.
Construction will involve two pieces, City Engineer Kevin Stafford explained at Mayor Keith Gaskin’s Wednesday press conference at City Hall.
The largest part of the work will address lack of ADA compliance and accessibility at the entrance to the administrative portion of the Trotter, Stafford said.
“(An ADA ramp for the administration building) has never existed,” Stafford said. “This adds the ramp, but it will also improve the street side.”
The sidewalk on Second Avenue North is narrow and broken up, Stafford said. The project will bump out the curb by about five feet, making the sidewalk 10 feet wide, as well as adding the ADA ramp. The crepe myrtles on that corner will also be removed.
Finally, parking on Second Avenue will be realigned, Stafford said.
“We’re going to convert angled parking — where people can’t see to back out — to parallel parking, which mimics what’s across the street,” Stafford explained. “You can see (when) coming in and out of those spaces.”
Stafford said he expected the work to go quickly.
“To all intents and purposes it should be done by the end of this year,” he said. “But that’s weather permitting.”
Weathers Construction submitted the only bid, at $203,700.
Stafford said nine contractors had expressed interest in the project, but Weathers was the only one to bid in the end.
The second, smaller piece will focus on the fenced-in courtyard area, Stafford said. Public Works will come in and clear out the trees, planters and broken concrete that’s out there now.
Gaskin said the area is hazardous as it exists now.
“If you’ve been down there, the patio area outside the downstairs doors of the Trotter is kind of treacherous,” Gaskin said. “The trees that are in there have bumped up the sidewalk.”
Hannon LLC submitted a quote of $31,985, which was approved Tuesday night with no discussion.
Work will be underway soon and should be finished by Christmas, Stafford said.
“This is a pretty small project that can happen immediately,” Stafford said.
The money is coming from the city’s hotel tax revenues, according to Chief Financial Officer James Brigham. The tax adds 2% to hotel/motel rooms within the city.
Brigham estimated the city makes about $20,000 per month from the tax, and has a little more than $1 million in proceeds on hand.
The money raised by that tax may only be used for upkeep at the Trotter.
Old Fire Station 4 declared surplus
Tuesday night the council declared the old Fire Station 4 building, at the corner of Airline Road and South McCrary Road, to be surplus and approved having it appraised for potential sale.
The station has been unused since Columbus Fire and Rescue built its new station further west on Airline Road in March 2021. The building was built in 1959, and according to Lowndes County tax records, it sits on a parcel of land that is 80-by-159 feet.
The building had already been diagnosed with about $20,000 worth of roofing issues, and the roof has continued to degrade, Gaskin said.
“We’re having more roof issues,” Gaskin said. “The rubber roof has flipped right over. There seems to be something causing the front door to go up. We need to move on it.”
Once the appraisal is performed, City Attorney Jeff Turnage said it could be sold by sealed bid; it could be sold to a specific individual, in which case both would get an appraisal and the price would be set at the average of the two; or it could be listed with a broker.
Crossroads Sober Living, which is located immediately adjacent to the fire station, is still interested in buying, according to founder Dusty Snider. Crossroads has offered to both buy and lease the property in the past.
“We’ve been going back and forth with the city for about a year,” Snider told The Dispatch Wednesday afternoon. “We’re still interested if it makes sense. It’s been sitting there empty, it needs a lot of (repair work), so we’re hoping for a fair price.”
Brian Jones is the local government reporter for Columbus and Lowndes County.
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