City Council Approves Convention Hall Design

CAPE MAY — City Council approved a design for a new Convention Hall here following the recommendations of the Convention Hall Project Team.
At a Tue., Sept. 21 meeting, City Manager Bruce MacLeod said the Convention Hall Project team met six times over seven weeks.
The project team included four representatives of city government, Mayor Edward Mahaney Jr., Deputy Mayor Jack Wichterman, MacLeod, Construction Official Bill Callahan, five citizen members appointed by City Council: Al Beale, John Bilotta, Dennis Crowley, Mary Stewart, and Michael Whipple, and the professionals, Martin Kimmel and Jon Trump of Kimmel-Bogrette Architecture & Site, and Steve Markley of Hunter Roberts Construction Group.
The team was assigned to develop a new design of the convention hall facility with a cost not to exceed $10.5 million and a specific goal to open by Memorial Day of 2012.
City Council also approved a separate bidding process and award for demolition of the old Convention Hall and Solarium. MacLeod said the city could award a demolition contract by the end of October with work beginning in November and concluding by the end of December.
Council also approved the possibility of signing a separate contract for pile driving, apart from the general construction contract if the architect, construction management consultant deem a separate contract to be beneficial to the project. MacLeod said pile driving could begin early in 2011 and be concluded in March or April of 2011.
MacLeod presented a timeline for the project:
• September 16 —January 15, 2011: Design Development & Bid Documents
• January 16— February 1, 2011: Bid Preparation
• February 1, 2011:Bid Documents available to bidders
• March 1, 2011:City received bids from contractors
• April 1, 2011: City awards construction contract
• May 1, 2011: Construction starts
• May 1, 2012: Construction complete
• May 28, 2012:City opens new building
MacLeod said the project team worked with a criteria calling for a facility with a large, dividable, multi-functional hall, have minimal impact on the CAFRA permit, lobby with open views of ocean and beach, retail space, community rooms for conferences and events, limited administrative office space, maximum storage space and provide a catering kitchen to warm up food that was cooked at another location.
The Convention Hall design was reduced in size from 32,000 square feet to 20,000 square feet after bids for an earlier design averaged $12.2 million to construct. The hall was reduced from two stories to a single story.
MacLeod said whether the entire building or a portion of the facility is heated and cooled by a geothermal system is yet to be determined. The facility will have solar panels at no cost to the city through a power purchase agreement, he said.
The new design of the hall will not rest on the stone jetty along the Promenade seawall, as did the larger design. The auditorium section will seat about 970 persons, said MacLeod.
During public comment, resident Jerry France asked how much money the city will lose as result of not being able to rent the restaurant and retail space in the Solarium and the former Oasis restaurant property.
MacLeod said the surf shop in the Solarium rented for about $39,000 per year, the former Tisha’s location about $50,000 and the Oasis about $30,000. Tisha’s has relocated to the Washington Street Mall.
He said the former Ricker’s Store on the Promenade was used as the office for beach tags sales, which brings in $2 million per year. The Ricker’s property was in litigation to prove who owned the site.
MacLeod said the Oasis may be redesigned including a section of Ricker’s facility to create restrooms, changing rooms and rental lockers for the public.
France said the city would lose rental income from the properties while the new hall was under construction. He suggested the Solarium not be torn down but be included as part of the new Convention Hall.
France asked if the city projected how much revenue the new Convention Hall would produce and the costs to operate the building. MacLeod said a business plan from Temple University’s School of Hospitality Management would be presented to council on Oct. 1. He said Temple could not finalize a business plan until council settled on a final design for the new facility.