By Krystal Smalley
ksmalley@wbcowqel.com
A bid for a new wall at Schines Art Park came through Monday afternoon, but the city will still have to clear a few hurdles before everything is said and done.
Studer-Obringer Construction Co., Inc., of New Washington, submitted a bid of $120,900 for the new wall, the only bid submitted for the project. Studer-Obringer worked on the Bucyrus Public Library addition and Trinity Evangelical.
As it currently stands, the new wall would be tied into Midwest Furniture’s existing wall with metal fasteners, allowing each wall to move independently. There will be a cap on top and a base at the bottom to allow water to get out.
The Schines Art Park is being funded by two grants – one from the Ohio Department of Natural Resources and the second from the Ohio Facilities Construction Commission. The city will not be able to use that money for the new wall. The reason is twofold: a wall was not in the original funding proposal made by the city and there is not enough grant money to complete the park and the wall. The completion of the park is a must if the city wants to meet the funding requirements.
The city has roughly $73,000 in pledged money available to it that could be used to build the wall; it still leaves a deficit of at least $47,900.
“We have a wall here that needs to be addressed, that benefits the park,” Mayor Jeff Reser said. “I think it’s a high hurdle, but I don’t think it’s one we can’t achieve.”
If the city was unable to raise the funds, Reser floated the idea of a 20-foot high chain link fence that would provide a barrier to protect the park from any debris that might fall from the Midwest Furniture wall as it deteriorated. Art Park Committee member Donna Laipply suggested decorating the fence with art if it came down to that decision.
Whether the city can raise enough money for the new wall or it chooses to put up a fence, Lyn Makeever suggested having the staging ground put in place when work on the Art Park begins. That way, Makeever explained, the foundation would already be in place for either option at a later date.
There are two other hurdles the city still has to deal with. An agreement needs to be in place with Doug Godwin, owner of Midwest Furniture, and the city to attach the new wall to the existing one, which was revealed to be damaged when the former Schines Theatre was torn down last summer.
Reser said he had been waiting to have the cost of a new wall in hand before approaching Godwin with any type of agreement, which would also have to be approved by Bucyrus City Council. The option to tear down Midwest Furniture was brought up, but Reser said they did not want to lose another downtown building. He believed Godwin would possibly entertain the idea of selling the building, but Reser said the city would not have the money to purchase it.
“We want to protect the investment of the wall,” Law Director Rob Ratliff added. “We don’t want to end up on the exact side of the wall we were just on.”
“Doug is a community-minded guy,” Reser said. “We want to make it fair to him; we don’t want to make it a burden to him.”
The other hurdle revolved around the completion date. The original project proposal stated that the park would be finished by June 30, a date that all agreed would be impossible to meet at this point. Talks have begun with the funding agencies for an extension. The committee agreed that extending the completion date to Dec. 31 would be enough to account for any other unforeseeable issues.
“We want this park to look nice,” Reser said. “We don’t want to rush into it, look haphazard.”
Reser is already on the path to raise the funds. He announced during the meeting that he contacted three foundations that afternoon and had promises of a total of $5,000 in funding.
“Any donation is important, whether it’s $10 or $10,000,” Reser said. “We are grateful for anything that’s given to us. We’ll make sure it gets put to good use.”
Anyone wishing to make a donation to the Schines Art Park can stop by the Mayor’s Office at Bucyrus City Hall.
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