The more than yearlong construction project at Salvador Perez Recreation Center has included improvements to the natatorium and pool. But completion has been delayed five months.
The more than yearlong construction project at Salvador Perez Recreation Center has included improvements to the natatorium and pool. But completion has been delayed five months.
Santa Fe residents who have been waiting an entire year for the reopening of the Salvador Perez Recreation Center will have to wait at least another five months.
A major overhaul of the city-owned recreation center on Alta Vista Street that started last January and was supposed to be finished by the start of 2020 has been delayed until May after several “unpleasant discoveries” were made along the way, city spokeswoman Lilia Chacon said Friday.
“This was years of deferred maintenance in a 66-year-old building,” she said. “Once you open it up, you start to see the true depth and breadth of the project, and there’s no backing up. You have to do it. It had been put off for so long. Now it’s being done.”
Chacon said the end product will be worth the wait.
“The process is painful; the results will be worth it,” she said.” People will enjoy them for decades to come.”
Despite the delay, Chacon said the $2.45 million construction project is still within budget.
“They had built in certain contingencies,” she said.
In a progress report to city councilors, Chacon said the unforeseen delay is the result of other problems discovered during the initial construction phase, including damage to the pool and disintegrated parapets on the building that required the installation of a new bond beam to ensure the recreation center’s structural integrity.
“When the city of Santa Fe closed the Salvador Perez facility back in January 2019 we asked for your patience and promised to reopen a facility that was better in every way,” she wrote. “We’re not done yet but we are well on our way.”
The construction project includes improvements to the natatorium and pool, the ventilation and air circulation systems, the so-called building envelope, the locker rooms and Americans with Disabilities Act accessibility.
Four general contractors have been working simultaneously to complete the project, Chacon wrote in her report. B&D Industries is handling the building envelope and structural integrity of the building; Ameresco is responsible for the heating, ventilation and air conditioning system; FacilityBUILD is doing the locker room upgrades; and PoolPro LLC is taking care of the pool resurfacing work.
“The city has committed its resources and staff to making the Salvador Perez remodel a success that will delight patrons and last for years to come,” Chacon wrote in her report.
In an interview, Chacon said she wrote the report to keep elected officials and the public apprised.
“We know it’s a long wait ... but there’s no shortcut,” she said.
Chacon said construction projects sometimes lead to unanticipated problems.
“Anybody who’s rehabbed an old house or watched the Property Brothers knows this happens,” she said, referring to the home renovation show on HGTV. “You dig up the kitchen, and there’s stuff you’re going to have to deal with.”
