Renovation costs in for NK library, School Board space

Cost estimates are in for transforming what is dubbed New Kent’s “historic school” into office space for the county’s School Board and a new home for the county’s Heritage Public Library branch.

The two buildings that front Route 249 are targeted for renovation. And based on estimates developed by the county’s General Services Department, the price tag for upgrading the original structure built in the 1930s is less than the cost estimated for the newer building that was constructed about 20 years later.

“Believe it or not, the 1930s building is in better shape than the other building,” General Services director Jim Tacosa told county Board of Supervisors members during the board’s March 31 work session.

Tacosa unveiled a cost estimate of $1.7 million for the original structure. The other building, added to the school campus in the 1950s, is pegged at $2 million, he said, due mostly to structural damage caused by water.

Tacosa told supervisors that water has seeped in behind the 1950s building’s brick exterior, causing the walls to bulge. The building, he added, has gone through a long series of repairs during its lifetime.

“All of those repairs have done a good job, but they’re starting to fail now,” he said. “If we go through another winter like this past one, the walls on the second building could collapse.”

Most of the damage has been inflicted by rainwater seeping in through the building’s flat roof. Tacosa placed the roof repair estimate at $96,000.

He also said the county has a $138,000 estimate in hand for replacing windows in the 1950s building. The insulation factor for windows there now is R-1, he added.

“We’re trying to keep demolition to a minimum,” Tacosa said in handing supervisors sketches of interior office layout possibilities.

The original cost estimate for renovating the 1930s building stood at $1.1 million, but has risen to the $1.7 million figure after Tacosa incorporated recommendations forwarded by the library’s Board of Trustees.

County Administrator Cabell Lawton said the possibility exists that the work can be paid for with cash on hand, thus the county would not have to borrow money.

Tacosa added that the first step of stabilizing and securing both buildings to prevent further deterioration could cost close to $270,000. He is expected to present supervisors with solid repair figures by July.

In other matters during the work session, supervisors agreed to allow inmates housed at Henrico Jail East to assist with trash collection along county roads.

Sheriff F.W. “Wakie” Howard Jr. said the program would involve three to four inmates guarded by a deputy sheriff. The jail supplies the deputy, but New Kent must pay the deputy’s $20 per hour salary. The jail also supplies trash bags and a vehicle to transport the work crew.

The inmates work only two to three days per week, and are screened by jail personnel. No violent inmates are allowed into the program, Howard said, adding he and Chief Deputy Joe McLaughlin also have a hand in determining which inmates take part.

“The inmates’ incentive is for every 30 days they work, they get 4½ days reduction in their sentence,” Howard told the board.

The sheriff said the effort starts off with one work crew and could get under way this week. He added that Henrico has “a good track record” with the trash pickup program.

Board chairman Marty Sparks embraced the program, suggesting the first crew start work along Route 249 and then address roads close to the county’s trash transfer stations.

“I came down Route 249 tonight, and the trash is horrible,” he said. “I’ve never seen it like this. It’s awful. It’s embarrassing.”