$1.5 million in suggested fixes for Batavia city hall

Batavia city officials knew that "replace the windows at the Batavia Government Center" should be added to their "honey-do" list.

But a comprehensive review of the 114-year-old building shows that is only one item on a $1.5 million list of repairs and replacements it should have.

Window frames are rotting, windows are getting foggy, some are caulked shut, hardware is broken, some windows won't open and air is leaking around the 33-year-old windows.

"You've got a building that's working. It's functional. It's relatively comfortable. But it needs maintenance," said Lane Allen of Allen+Pepa Architects, a consultant the city hired.

If the city did everything suggested, it is looking at spending at least $1.5 million, according to the report presented Tuesday.

The windows alone could cost at least $323,195, not including putting in masonry sills.

A team that included a heating/ventilation/air conditinoning firm, water superintendent John Dillon, building commissioner Jeff Albertson and a maintenance supervisor poked in the nooks and crannies. They looked for heat loss, air leaks, water damage, moisture infiltration, how air is handled, mold and degradation of timber and masonry and other matters.

The city should upgrade aspects of the fire alarm and suppression systems, including putting a suppression system in the computer server room. That room should also have its own cooling system, rather than relying on the overall building system, according to the report.

A 22-year-old furnace is showing signs of being on its last legs. Wooden beams and posts in an area that houses the Albright Theater Company were spongy, so they have been temporarily shored. Better secondary ways to get out of the building in emergencies are needed in several areas.

The team found electrical service panels cobbled together that don't meet current safety codes, and some that are undersized.

"How do we have code compliance (issues) in the code compliance officer's house?" Alderman Marty Callahan asked. Dillon said items may have been OK when the building was remodeled years ago and grandfathered in as codes changed. He speculated that water-based fire sprinklers might have been installed in the whole building but pulled out of the server room when it was created due to concerns about water damaging the equipment.

Allen sketched out a five-year plan, but the work could be spread out longer, Dillon said.

The city bought the limestone-and-timber former windmill factory in 1973. City offices moved into it in the early 1980s, and in 1994 voters agreed to spend $3 million to renovate the areas that house the police department and the city council room.

Mayor Jeff Schielke said people have suggested the city sell the building for commercial or residential redevelopment.

But building a similar-sized replacement, of concrete block and drywall, would cost at least $25 million and would likely have to be built on the eastern or western edges of town, Schielke said. And voters would have to approve borrowing money, he said.

"When you look at where this site is, it is almost due center in the middle of Batavia. ... I've got to believe that (building a new hall) would not be well received," Schielke said.

"This thing (the building) really started out as the lemon we made lemonade out of. It's going to be one of the best taxpayer bargains we have ever put on the stage in Batavia."