Explanation
This ordinance authorizes the Director of the Recreation and Parks Department to enter into contract with OHM Advisors for the preparation of drawings and specifications for the Davis Center Shelter Improvements Project. The renovations will include improvements to the HVAC system, electrical system, plumbing system, as well as technology improvements, a patio replacement and a master plan of the park area surrounding the shelterhouse.
Background: The historic brick building is in the center of the park and plays a key role in the Franklin Park Conservatory master plan with exterior and interior renovations recommended. The Department has scoped the consultants, OMH, to study and recommend a central campus in the park, looking at the Davis Center, Athletic Complex, parking lot and the amphitheater for circulation, aesthetics, programming and use. They will also prepare plans for the renovation to the Davis Center. Those plans include exterior modifications and improvements as well as interior. Plans will include replacing electrical, HVAC, windows, reconfigure rooms, new floors, painting, upgrading plumbing, ADA upgrades and replacing the terraces on the front and back of the building.
The Davis Center was constructed as a recreational facility in 1914/15 and used for a shelter house and assembly hall with basement storage for recreation equipment until it was converted into the Parks office during the 1960’s-1970’s where it was used by staff. In 1992, the international garden exhibition, Ameriflora, renovated the empty building into a performance space used during the yearlong exhibition. The Department, with a donor of the arts, Samuel Davis, continued to operate the facility as the Davis Youth Center for the Performing Arts. The Center closed in 2008 as a cost cutting measure and has been used as a storage space for the Conservatory and the Department.
The costs for this portion of the project will be $235,000.00 with a co...
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