OCEAN BEACH, CA. Tony Manolatos, of Councilmember Kevin Faulconer’s office just got back to me. We had heard that the City was borrowing money to replace the roof of the Ocean Beach branch library, and was planning to spend $150,000 to do the job.
Several people who commented to my post on this issue thought that the figure of $150K was a little pricey for the roof. So I contacted Faulconer’s District 2 office, and Tony agreed to get in touch with city staff for answers. Here is his response:
The $150,000 estimate is approximate and based on a scope including the following factors
- The actual cost of replacement
- The Library has approximately 9000 Square foot of roof.
- The roof is mostly pitched, with wood shake shingles.
- This work is to be contracted out.
- Costs associated with Project management and engineering.
- Cost associated with Purchasing, getting the contract written and bid on.
- Contingencies (including asbestos removal).
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That sounds very high. How big ( how many square feet is the building on the floor area?) is the library?
I am interested in this for a number of reasons, one of which is wasteful government spending – the city is set to accept Millions of dollars from the stimulus package, and who is going to hold the distribution accountable?
Bigger questions always arise.
Maybe wood shingles on a library is begging for a fire to happen. How much would it cost for a regular asphalt shingle roof and solar panels?
A roof job is also a good time to consider the addition of skylights, or an upstairs reading deck on the roof.
Larry, when I was on the OB Planning Board back in the earlier part of this decade, the City presented an entire new renovation and expansion plan for the OB Library – drawings, everything -they even had a small model. I remember that we approved its concept. The City went and bought the building new door in anticipation of putting the plan into operation, and building the community a new library that included the old building – now 80 years old.
When the financial reality sunk in, any talk of a new library, of course, sank like a lobster trap with a set of barbells attached. Out of sight in no time.
Anna Daniels threw out a link to a renovation plan a day or 2 ago in a comment or post.
Wood shake is not only dangerous, it’s inefficient and no longer available. Lightweight ceramic tile is the way to go. This is much more fire retardant, and lasts considerably longer (if installed properly), with less maintenance. But ‘lightweight’ is a euphisim, it’s still considerably heavier than shake shingle. It would require reinforcement and re-evaluation of the trusses and potentially the load-bearing walls of the underlying structure, depending on the exact added weight of the tile. I’d still have a hard time paying over $50K for 9000sf of roof, considering all that.
I like the idea of a second-story expansion or open air deck. I’ll bet if we scored the whole $150K and used it wisely we could create a few hundred extra feet up top plus another couple thousand of decking.