Three Contracts Could Shave Three Months Off Convention Hall Completion

CAPE MAY — Construction Manager Steve Markley of Hunter Roberts, a member of the Convention Hall Project Team, is suggesting the construction of a Convention Hall here be divided into three pieces with three separate bids.
The demolition phase could be completed during this winter and a separate contract awarded in February just for the pilings. Everything else would be placed in a third bid package, he said.
“We can have all that banging going on in February and March,” said Markley, of the pile driving, at a Wed. Aug. 18 meeting of the Convention Hall Project Team.
He said driving piles for the new building would be “noisy construction” which would cause disruption on the beach in summer.
Markley said such a schedule could speed up construction by three months, which would have a new facility open in March or April 2012.
He said the piles should be driven before wells for geothermal heating and cooling are bored, if the city decides on that alternative energy option.
The pile layout for Scheme 6 is very similar to the previous larger design, said Markley.
City Manager Bruce MacLeod said it would be beneficial to begin construction activity as soon as possible to receive funding from the Casino Reinvestment Development Authority (CRDA).
That funding is in question with Gov. Chris Christie suggesting all CRDA money should be used only for projects in Atlantic City.
Mayor Edward J. Mahaney Jr. said CRDA was expected to contribute $1 for every $7 Cape May spends on the Convention Hall project.
Markley said a bid package for demolition could be ready by September 29. Demolition would likely take six weeks, he said.
Project team member Dennis Crowley said construction could be delayed if a winter of heavy snow occurred like the past year.
MacLeod said the project could also be delayed by the Department of Environmental Protection for modification of the CAFRA permit and approval from the state Historic Preservation Office.
How contractors will get heavy equipment onto the beach remains a challenge. In addition, there will be numerous trucks delivering items to the site.
Markley said one solution would be to cut a 20 to 30 foot opening in the Promenade concrete wall. He proposed leaving the stone jetty under the Promenade in place and building a ramp from Beach Avenue up to the Promenade, which is 4 feet higher than the road.
A ramp built across Beach Avenue could either make the street one way or even close the road. Project team member Mike Whipple suggested a ramp that runs parallel to the Promenade for part of the distance.
Markley said the Promenade would need to be cut into to install new water and sewer pipes and other utilities.
MacLeod said he met with grant consultants, Triad Associates, who will search for any applicable grant funding for the Convention Hall project.
No decision has been made whether the new facility will have geothermal heating and cooling and whether a system would service all or part of a new Convention Hall. MacLeod said the estimate for a system for the previous larger design was $500,000 to $525,000.
With Scheme 6 being 10,000 square feet smaller in size, the cost would be less, he said.
Team member John Bilotta said the city needed to provide engineers with a projected operating schedule of the new facility. Mahaney said Temple University School of Hospitality Management was working on a computer simulation.
Crowley asked that at least one community room being included in the building’s design.
He also suggested the façade on the building resemble the city’s 1917 Convention Hall. Wichterman concurred with the suggestion and also suggested a temporary restroom trailer be placed near Convention Hall next summer after the Solarium is demolished.
Mahaney said Temple University School of Hospitality Management is adapting a business plan for the new facility to the smaller design. He said the school has reconfigured what type of events could be held in the new hall along with the traditional uses.