By Michelle Fields, Standard Correspondent
Although Pentangle Council on the Arts initial Town Hall Theatre renovation plans were approved by the Development Review Board, the select board this week stated that they need more information about potential costs to the taxpayers before they will approve the plan.
Renovation plans call for updating the office space and moving the concession stand to that area, installing new seats (reducing the number from 356 to around 300), creating more handicapped accessibility, new curtains, carpet and a 17-by-41-foot addition at the rear with an elevator, new stairs, small kitchen, handicapped accessible bathroom and a new HVAC system.
Initial estimates show the cost of the renovation to be about $2.2 million and Pentangle Director Alita Wilson said the plan is to “raise the money quietly and not go to the voters.”
In the interest of accessibility and having a theater that is attractive, it is time for a change,” Wilson said.
Noting some of the current challenges like a hazardous spiral staircase to access the stage, Wilson said, “We feel it is our commitment to give back in multiple ways and we can’t do that with our limited infrastructure here.”
In presenting the plans, architect Dave Sigl noted that with the concession stand removed, visitors would be able to see directly into the theater. “It gives you the wow factor when you come in through that door.”
“The materials will all match the building that is here,” Sigl said.
However, the subject that caused the select board to pause was the mechanical systems. A mechanical engineer hired by Pentangle suggested that the boilers were beyond their useful life and noted that the air handler is in the flood plain and would have to be raised by five feet. The extent of the renovation triggers new rules that would require that equipment to be raised.
Since the town owns the building, Pentangle representatives were suggesting that the town replace the boiler system so that it would be new and would improve the energy efficiency of the building matching the other renovations that Pentangle proposes to pay for.
“They’re cleaned every year. They should still have a lot of life left in them,” Town Manager Phil Swanson said of the boilers noting that new burners and fireboxes were added in the last few years.
“I would like to advocate for the town spending some money on the energy efficiency of this building,” resident, architect, and former Village Trustee Chris Miller said. “It does not make sense to me to have Pentangle buy a new air system that has to be sized for a leaky building.”
“It’s not going to be easy and it’s not going to be cheap but over time it will pay for itself,” Miller said.
Miller noted that an energy audit was conducted on the building in 2010 but with Tropical Storm Irene hitting the community in 2011 bringing other priorities, nothing was done about it.
Swanson asked Sigl if he could look at whether the roof could handle the extra snow load if more insulation was added.
“We need to work together,” Sigl stated adding, “they’re (Pentangle) going to pay for everything to improve this building.”
“We need to know how much money we’re talking about for the town share,” Select Board member Butch Sutherland said.
“I was not expecting to have this conversation…the boiler room that serves this whole building was not on my radar,” Swanson said. He asked Pentangle to come back with another presentation on expenses they would look to the town to cover. “We will wait for an estimate from you of the costs for the boiler work…it could be a quarter million easy.”
“We certainly do not want to raise the money if it puts the town into a compliance situation (having to raise the floor and possibly purchase new boilers) that they don’t want to deal with,” Wilson said. “We may have to just go with a straight renovation of the theater (no addition).”
This article first appeared in the September 22, 2016 edition of the Vermont Standard.