This construction equipment blog post sponsored by Volvo Rents, Construction equipment rental Mobile AL
How much Will GulfQuest Maritime Museum Cost?
Another City Project
In a further increase of construction costs, the Mobile City Council approved an increase of $180,000 for constructing the GulfQuest Maritime Museum. Earlier rounds had increased it by $239,000. With the latest increase, the city’s contract with W. G. Yates & Sons Construction Co. handling the museum’s structural work stands at $14.3 million.
Mobile’s head of architectural engineering, Brad Christensen, attributed the cost increases to problems of keeping the Mobile River out of the museum’s waterfront work site. The paperwork involved in approving the cost increases took several months after the problems had occurred.
While the earlier cost increases were funded with the city’s portion of Alabama Municipal Trust Fund, the latest increase will have to be paid out of $3 million new debt issued over the summer.
Cost of the museum project is not yet fully clear. The museum director, Tony Zodrow, puts it at about $35 million but a more realistic estimate is $38 million. The city has already put aside $25 million for the construction, made up of $21.4 million debt and $3.6 million savings from a previous refinancing.
The federal government paid $10 million through transportation grants.
Redesign of the 25,000-square-foot, four story office building at 200 Government St., which the city had bought for $949,000 in 2008, is proceeding. The first two floors of the building have already been renovated at a cost of $554,000. The task of redesigning the third floor has now been entrusted to Holmes & Holmes Architects for $20,000.
On competing the third floor, the building will accommodate the city’s Weed and Seed program, which is an anti-blight, anti-crime initiative funded with federal dollars.
Related Entries:
0 responses so far ↓
There are no comments yet...Kick things off by filling out the form below.
You must log in to post a comment.