Grandstand Restoration Likely to Be Costly

Hellertown Borough Council members unanimously approved a motion to advertise for bids for the restoration of the decrepit grandstand at their Aug. 15 meeting, but several council members expressed dismay over the potential cost of a full-scale restoration of the facility.

Borough Engineer Bryan Smith, of Barry Isett and Associates, informed council that rust has spread and timbers have continued to rot since the grandstand was inspected by his firm 5 years ago.

In addition, he said, the plates that secure the grandstand to concrete footers are now bad, and in order to replace them the entire structure will have to be lifted off its foundation by a crane capable of lifting a house.

"The rest of the steel structure appears to be salvageable with sandblasting and painting," Smith said, but he estimated the cost of that rehabilitation to be $135,000, which he said is $55,000 more than the estimate the borough received after Barry Isett's inspection 5 years ago.

Smith emphasized that repairing the current grandstand should still be significantly cheaper than replacing it, and estimated that duplicating it with a brand new structure would probably cost $300,000 or more.

Very few municipalities own such a large grandstand, he said. Of municipal entities that do, he added, "most of them are school districts."

The $135,000 estimate does not include the cost of lifting the grandstand off its foundation and replacing the plates that are bad, Smith said, adding that the borough would need to secure additional funding to pay for that part of the project.

Council President Phil Weber confirmed with Borough Manager Cathy Kichline that the borough currently has $100,000 designated for repairing the grandstand, including $80,000 in open space funding and $20,000 in borough funds.

Weber also voiced strong support for restoring the structure, as did councilwoman Gail Nolf, who cited the fact that its location in the park is "very visible" as one good reason to do so.

"If you tear it down, it's gone forever," she added. "I really feel like this is an opportunity for us to preserve something."

In spite of the bad economy, Nolf said that when a project like the grandstand's restoration comes along, "people do step up."

Council Vice President John Bate, however, voiced concerns about the potential cost of completing the grandstand's restoration.

"I can't see spending all this money and then not having the money to fix (the plates)," he said.

"We're talking a lot of money," he added.

Councilman Tom Rieger agreed with Bate, and said he'd support saving the structure, but only if there's a plan in place to fund the entire project from start to finish.

"We need an honest number in front of us," Bate concluded.

Weber then recommended putting the entire project out to bid, in order to get a number for council members to consider.

Once a total cost is determined, it may be possible to implement a several-year plan in order to fund the restoration, he said.