Lower Level Fire Egress and Bathroom Renovation

Lower Level Fire Egress and Bathroom Renovation

The current project is the largest yet undertaken by the Friends. The $54,400 project will make fire egress improvements (emergency exits) to the Hall’s lower level where the building’s kitchen and dining area are located, and will significantly modernize the Hall’s main restroom facilities. Both of these outcomes will allow large cultural and community groups to fully utilize the Hall.

PROJECT DESCRIPTION

Given the increasing popularity of the contra dances, the Hall’s managers invited a State Fire Marshal to inspect the building for fire safety. The Fire Marshal identified building egress improvements that once implemented will increase lower level occupancy from 49 to 100, and allow for concurrent use of both levels of the building. The current lower level occupancy limit of 49 constrains mid-sized and large groups from eating in the Hall’s dining area and has required Hall managers to restrict the lower level’s use, which is undesirable. Renovation of the building’s main restroom facility, also located on the lower level, will install an accessible restroom and replace stalls that are universally disliked as they are cramped and insufficient for the number of Hall users.

The scope of work for the lower level bathroom renovations includes:

– Carpentry, plumbing, concrete, and electrical work to demo existing and create one standalone ADA accessible toilet room and four unisex stalls plus hand-washing stations.

The scope of the fire egress work includes:

– Carpentry and electrical work in stairway #1 to add a vestibule on lower level with fire door, per the Fire Marshal’s requirement. Plus plumbing work to relocate water pressure tank from this area to the furnace room.

– Rebuilding stairway #2 to improve egress (currently the stairway is too steep per the Fire Marshal). This requires reconfiguration of the exit (concrete cutting and carpentry), the landing, and the stairway; and lighting and emergency exit signs.

GOALS & TIMELINE: 

1. By May 2015, close our project financing gap through donations, fundraisers and grants to raise a total of $54,400 for the fire egress and bathroom modernization project. The Friends of the Capital City Grange hall, through fundraisers and generous community donations and grants, have raised a total of $42,750 (79%) of total project costs with a significant $25,265 contribution from the VT Art Council (made possible by the State of Vermont and the Vermont Cultural Facilities Coalition).   The VT Arts Council grant requires dollar-for-dollar matching funds.
2. Manage the rehab work in two stages. Fire egress work will be completed in the fall of 2014; bathroom modernization will be completed in the spring/early summer of 2015. A professional contractor was competitively selected to complete the work. A bridge loan is required to pay for improvements as the Arts Council Grant is only paid once all renovation work is finalized.