Cape May Has $7.5 Million for Convention Hall Construction

CAPE MAY — The Convention Hall Project Team met for the first time Wed., Aug. 4 and agreed that the city has about $7.5 million available to construct a new facility.
While the city has a $10.5 million bond to finance a new Convention Hall, there are expenses related to the project such as 10 percent for contingencies and 5 percent for escalating construction costs.
The Convention Hall Project Team consists of: Mayor Edward J. Mahaney Jr., City Manager Bruce MacLeod, Deputy Mayor Jack Wichterman, Cape May Construction Official Bill Callahan, John Bilotta, Al Beale, Mike Whipple, Mary Stewart and Dennis Crowley. The team includes Steve Markley from Hunter Davis, a construction management firm and architect Martin Kimmel, who designed a larger facility the city cannot build for $10.5 million.
Kimmel examined bids submitted for the larger facility which averaged $10.7 million for a basic building.
MacLeod estimated the cost of building a new hall at about $400 per square foot based on bids for the previous design. Kimmel projected construction costs of a smaller Convention Hall between $340 and $350 per square foot.
He said that cost figure did not include a geothermal heating and cooling system, solar panels or furniture and fixtures.
Mahaney said the design of the new hall is driven by the amount of money available.
Throughout the meeting, Wichterman and Crowley voiced support for not demolishing the adjacent Solarium, which was a part of the larger design. Mahaney said the Solarium had a value of about $20,000 with a cost of $180,000 to move it to another location in town.
Kimmel said the available funding would probably cover a 21,000 square foot building, down from 32,000 square foot in the previous design. He said the committee would determine the desired uses of a smaller building.
Markley said the city had six weeks to come up with “solid schematic documents” to stay on schedule for a Memorial Day 2012 opening. He said the previous design had 8,000 square feet of auditorium, 8,000 square feet of retail and restaurant space, 8,000 square feet of public meeting space and 8,000 square feet of hallways, corridors and other space.
Markley said for a 20,000 square foot Convention Hall it could contain the same items as the larger design but each measuring 5,000 square feet.
“I don’t think it’s that easy,” he said. “You’re not just going to whack out the auditorium or whack out the retail space or just whack out the public meeting space because all of those are functions you’ve wanted to have in the building for a long time.”
While the larger design including cutting into the sea wall along Beach Avenue to extend a new Convention Hall onto the Promenade, a smaller design would not protrude towards the street.
Mahaney said utility lines and pipes would include a cut into the seawall. Markley said a 30-foot section of sea wall would be removed.
“With three to-four days notice that a hurricane is coming, we want you to put it back, that was all written into the bid package,” he said.
MacLeod said both the state Department of Environment Protection and Army Corps of Engineers had a hands-off position on Cape May cutting into the sea wall. He said contractors needed a way to move equipment onto the beach.
MacLeod said some equipment may be moved onto the Promenade by constructing a ramp from a huge mound of dirt from Beach Avenue.
Beale said he was concerned about removing a piece of the sea wall from a liability standpoint.
“Are we talking that there is the potential of the ocean rushing through that location into the city?” he asked.
The earlier bid specifications included the contractor opening and closing the sea wall up to four times at no additional cost, said MacLeod.
Markley suggested demolishing the current Convention Hall and removing pilings sometime this winter which could speed up the opening date. Mahaney said an earlier construction date could help the city to receive funding from the Casino Reinvestment Development Authority (CRDA). He said Gov. Chris Christie has a plan to keep all CRDA money in Atlantic City.
Crowley said he wanted to see an auditorium that was dividable so two events could be held simultaneously with the best performing arts atmosphere possible. He also called for a catering kitchen and no retail stores citing the city already owned five rental spaces on the Promenade.
Kimmel said if the city wants an auditorium that can be divided in half, it would require building beyond the footprint of the current Convention Hall. He suggested building eight to 10 feet on either side of the hall towards the Solarium and Morrow’s Nut House.
Mahaney said a new Convention Hall needed to be economically self-sustainable operationally and for retirement of its debt service.
“Otherwise the burden is going to fall back on the taxpayers of the city which are both the business and the residential property owners,” he said.
Mahaney talked of the area around Convention Hall as a “magnet” and second commercial district in addition to the Washington Street Mall that would keep smaller businesses in the city operating. He said he believed a second business improvement district would evolve in the Convention Hall neighborhood under the umbrella of the Washington Street Mall Business Improvement District.
Kimmel said a design that included demolishing and using the space of the Solarium would allow retail space in the new hall. He asked if the team wanted to sacrifice the functionality of a new Convention Hall just to save the Solarium.
MacLeod said restoring the Solarium would cost $20,000 to $50,000.
Markley suggested the pre-function area with a box office could be outdoor space. He said he saw a 5,000 foot second floor as a possibility.
Wiping out retail space could create meeting rooms, said Markley.
The project team’s next meeting is Thur., Aug 12 at 9 a.m. in City Hall Auditorium.