The District of Houston has topped up the budget for what will be a renovated lobby at the Claude Parish Memorial Arena.
A first amount of $105,000 has now been supplemented by $150,000 from 2019 profits provided to the District by the Dungate Community Forest.
“The arena lobby is showing its age,” said Kelly of a renovation which remains subject to council approval as a budget item for 2022 with work to take place that year or in 2023.
First up is a concept plan of what a rejuvenated lobby could look like and what it could contain and Kelly expects to soon put that out for tenders. The District has allocated $25,000 for that concept plan.
The project is part of an overall District initiative to ensure its buildings and other assets are kept up to date, maintained to acceptable standards and improved as needed.
The total amount forwarded by Dungate from its 2019 profits amounted to $864,505. In addition to the $150,000 for the arena lobby project, council at its Oct. 6 meeting assigned $714,505 for the eventual replacement of the community hall.
In the meantime, Kelly is waiting for All West Glass to replace the four entry doors to the arena.
Approval for the replacement of the doors dates back to late winter following an expenditure request made to council.
“As the ground height fluctuates, the doors continuously move, putting pressure on the frame,” noted Kelly in a memo to council in February.
“In 2018, one door was no longer unlockable …. and in 2019 two other doors became inoperable: not capable to unlock and broken panic hardware. Currently, there is only one fully operational door: the remaining three are exit-only and there is no handicap access to the facility,” Kelly continued.
“The current doors will not last until the end of 2020 to go through the next round of budget deliberations,” she said.
The doors will have automatic openers to make them easier to use by people with physical limitations.
