ADICA OKs funding for Albany Theatre demolition bids

ALBANY — The once majestic reign of the historic downtown Albany Theatre has apparently reached its end.

The Albany-Dougherty Inner City Authority voted this week to add a $60,000 line item to its budget to hire the local Yielding, Wakeford & McGee architectural firm to put out for bid the demolition of the rapidly deteriorating theater.

The firm bid $56,000 to complete bid documents and oversee demolition of the theater, which is listed on the National Register of Historic Places.

“The deterioration has reached the point where that portion of the Albany Theatre complex is a danger to the community,” Downtown Manager/ADICA President Latoya Cutts said. “We’d like to contract with Yielding & Wakeford to move this process forward.”

The board unanimously approved the measure with little comment.

ADICA also voted to contract with LRA Constructors for roof replacement and repairs on city-owned property along the 100 block of Pine Avenue. The repairs became necessary when leaks in some of the Pine Avenue structures threatened the integrity of their framing. Board member Omar Salaam asked Cutts why LRA was being considered for a $48,000 contract with no bid process.

“We did not put this project out for bid, but we did get input from our Central Services department to determine whether this price is in line with the work that needs to be done,” Cutts said. “I recommend that we add a $52,000 line item to our budget to account for LRA’s $48,000 bid and any contingency or change order.”

LRA asked for and received $25,000 in additional funding during the company’s work on the ADICA-funded canoe/kayak launches the company built in Riverfront Park last year. Company President/Co-owner Ben Barrow told the ADICA board, however, that he thinks the $48,000 will cover the cost of repairs on the Pine Avenue structures.

“We’ll have to replace some of the joisting and decking, but we’ve done exhaustive studies and feel this (cost) will cover the repairs,” Barrow said.

City Attorney Nathan Davis pointed out that state law requires bids on any construction project greater than $100,000.

The ADICA board also got a report from Planning Services Senior Planner Rozanne Braswell on a planned $50,000 commercial facade program that could impact 24 businesses located within a downtown area encompassing Pine and Broad avenues as well as Front, Jackson and Washington streets.

“This program is to promote good sign design in the downtown district,” Braswell said. “The plan is to install new, permanent signage that will allow us to change the facing but leave the structure intact. That will be a benefit for locations where businesses change. We also hope to remove noncompliant signage.

“The plan approved calls for a $2,000 limit on facade grants, and work on each approved sign would have to start within 60 days of award notice and be completed within six months.”

Cutts said the $50,000 she is seeking for the facade program is enough to cover grants for all 24 businesses located in the designated district.

The Downtown Development Authority, comprising the same board members as ADICA’s, met immediately following the ADICA meeting and agreed to serve as the administering agent for the facade program.

“The funding will come from ADICA, but the DDA will serve as administering agent,” Cutts said.