The tragedy of the
Cox building fire in November has resulted in a sizeable insurance
settlement for restoration of the building.
For the last several
months, city officials have been in meetings with agents from
Travelers Insurance as they negotiated the settlement.
During a special city
commission meeting Friday, it was announced the settlement
procedure has taken so long because of criteria mandated by the
Kentucky Heritage Council and the National Parks Service related to
the restoration of the historic property.
The criteria is
mandated as related to a $2.5 million federal grant received in
2009 under the $410 billion Omnibus Act which was earmarked for
partial restoration of the building.
“We have more
scrutiny (of the project),” said Sam Baker, city engineer,
referring to the guidelines set forth by the National Parks
Service.
However, the fire
changed the dynamics of the restoration, taking it from partial to
full, with everything including windows, floors, plaster walls,
artwork, sprinkler systems, plumbing and HVAC systems being
replaced/restored, or in some cases installed under new codes
applicable to a full restoration.
City officials said
as part of the negotiations, representatives with Travelers and the
city met with Kentucky Heritage Council officials to review the
specifics of restoring the entire building from basement to
attic.
Once those meetings
took place, negotiations continued, culminating with a $7.3 million
settlement to the city.
Although the
settlement will cover the cost of projects like replacing the pine
floors on the third floor that were so water damaged they couldn’t
be salvaged and replastering the building from the basement to the
attic, the money is specifically earmarked for the Cox building and
cannot be spent on any other city expense.
Comptroller Romie
Griffey stressed after the meeting if the entire amount is not
spent on the building, the remaining balance goes back to the
insurance company.
Estimates and
descriptions of some of the restoration work includes:
— $800,000 to
restore the building’s artwork, which includes the stone gargoyles
and the Masonic mural.
— $250,000 to meet
state building codes, including installation of a sprinkler system
from the basement to the attic.
— $1 million to
replace the plaster walls throughout the building.
— Replacement of
several windows, at a cost of $4,000 each because the windows are
not standard size and must be custom milled.
— Replacement of
pine flooring which must be custom milled to a 7-inch
width.
— Replacement of the
slate roof.
— To date, $731,000
has been spent on clean-up of the building after the fire,
replacement of the roof trusses and liner, restoration work on the
Masonic stained glass, and structural work in the
basement.
— Replacement of the
entire electrical, HVAC and plumbing systems.
Also Friday, Trace
Creek Construction was awarded the contract to act as construction
manager for the duration of the project, which is expected to take
one year, now that the settlement has been reached and work can
commence in earnest.
As the construction
management company, Trace Creek will bid out work for projects
beyond their field of expertise.
“With this money
today, we can move ahead and get the job done,” said Ray Young,
city manager.
