12/15/07 - CITY NEWS - City Hall roof leak highlights need for repairs
’60s-era building needs more than $1 million in work
A water leak at City Hall has illustrated the long-known need for critical maintenance of the 40-year-old building.
The leak was discovered Monday morning in the third-floor hallway, the city courtroom, the office of the city clerk and the office of Director of Administration and Finance Andy Damiano, as city officials came in for work.
“The drawer of the cash register was completely filled with water,” said Deputy City Clerk Sherrie Massmann. Massmann added that nothing was damaged and everything that did get wet was salvaged.
The leak did not affect anything electronic, such as the computers. Damiano said the leak in his office missed his computer by only two feet.
“We fixed it that night but it needs some more work and we will be getting it done,” said Mayor Tom Gallagher. “This is just one more reason why we need to do critical maintenance to this building.”
Gallagher said the building was dedicated in 1968 and not many renovations have been done since then.
“The roof has been leaking for a couple of years now. We have just been patching it,” Damiano said. “We are just trying to keep the building afloat right now.”
Repair to Monday’s leak will cost the city about $2,000, Damiano said.
The money will come from the building and grounds department’s 2007 budget, which is expected to be $297,841.
When I ran for alderman 2 years ago, one of my issues was lack of maintenance and a need to study the energy efficiency of City Hall. You could tell that the structure had been essentially untouched (and unrenovated) for the most part. A 40 year old building needs considerable maintenance and monitoring to avoid issues like this.
Hopefully the City will become more proactive in their facility assessments and roll the condition of the City buildings into the Thoma Master Plan. It always costs less if you can plan for repairs rather than being blindsided.
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