Members of the Siloam Springs Board of Directors heard two presentations Tuesday concerning the futures of a pair of downtown properties owned by the city.
Tuesday's Board of Directors meeting was prefaced by two workshops, one for the Siloam Springs Museum, and the other for Fire Station 2.
Katie Rennard represented the museum for the workshop, which focused on the proposed plans for a renovation of the current museum building. Along with architect Matt Pearson, she delivered a presentation on renovations that could expand the available exhibition area and add to the flexibility of the facility.
"It's a solid, fairly simple old church building, and it does have a lot of potential," Pearson said.
Pearson described the proposed renovations, which included restoration of the upper level windows to increase natural lighting, removal of some display-level storage space, the addition of ADA bathrooms, movable walls in the middle of the display area and upper floor office space.
The total amount of money asked for by the museum is $375,000 for the construction project. The figure includes $15,000 of site work to the surrounding area, $15,000 in storage fees, $25,000 to move and handle artifacts and $17,700 in design fees. The construction costs add up to $295,000, and the remainder is contingency.
Pearson said the project would add 800 to 900 feet of usable space to the museum. Much of that space would come from removing the three feet of storage behind the displays and moving the new displays back to take that space.
The funding request for $375,000 does not include new furniture and equipment, which the museum would need to purchase or have donated. The request would also come with a request for increased yearly funding from the city.
Steve Marshall, who is serving as the project's construction manager, said he was confident that the numbers presented were accurate. The proposed project was taken to painters, framers and other industry members, who supplied current market prices for the work required, Marshall said.
Because the presentation was a workshop and educational in nature, no decision was made or requested.
The second workshop of the evening started immediately afterward. Fire Chief Jeremey Criner presented plans based on a long-standing board goal that fire station 2 be either renovated or moved to a new location.
The station was built in 1967 as the Siloam Springs Fire Department headquarters. The building is no longer the headquarters of the department since the construction of Fire Station 1. Located in downtown Siloam Springs on Mt. Olive Street, the fire station measures 5,900 square feet. As it was built in an era when all of the firefighters that served in the city were male, the station only has one restroom, and firefighters sleep in dorm-style bunking, Criner said.
In addition to the interior renovations, Criner said the station would need "exterior re-adjusting" to blend with the historic downtown district.
There has been a fire department in this location since just before the beginning of the 20th century, Criner said. Records indicated the property housed firefighters as early as April of 1897.
"I recognized when I came in and saw that this was a board goal, that there were some very strong opinions," Criner said
Criner presented the advantages and disadvantages of either moving the station or keeping it, comparing the option of renovation to the option of moving to the proposed site near the intersection of Heritage and Tulsa Street.
On a map of the significant fires that the city has on record, 51 percent are within a 1.5 mile response area of fire station 2. It was found that the relocation of the station to the site on Tulsa Street would positively effect the response time for 4 percent of those fires, but it would also negatively effect response times for 21 percent of those significant fires, Criner said.
Criner said he recommended renovating the existing fire station over relocating it. In addition to the better position to respond to the majority of fires, Criner said it was important to keep a fire station closer to the historic downtown district, where there is a higher density of older, more fire-prone buildings.
City Administrator Phillip Patterson said he would have preferred to move the station and use the space as park land, but said "it is clear from the analysis" that it would be better to renovate the building.
General News on 08/20/2017