Costs expected to soar for modernization of town hall

Facebook
Twitter
LinkedIn
Email
Print
Hyde Park Town Hall

HYDE PARK – The current Hyde Park Town Hall was constructed in 1968 and is not ADA compliant in several areas, including ease of access to the basement offices of the building department.  The previous administration had begun plans to modernize the building before being voted out of office last year.

Town Supervisor Al Torreggiani said the previous board estimated that the modernization, including an addition, would cost approximately $2 million but did not budget enough money.

Hyde Park businessman John Golden, who has long helped the town on major construction projects including the police and court facility, has pledged more than $1 million to build the addition at the town hall.  With the price of materials rising dramatically, Torreggiani believes the project is underfunded by $2 million at today’s cost.

The town has also encountered problems with the original design to locate the addition closer to Albany Post Road (Route 9).  After conducting boring samples, engineers discovered a substantial amount of ash, which is unsuitable for building on.  The ash is all that was left when the previous town hall burned down and the site was leveled.

Torreggiani agreed that the project needs to be completed and the design phase has begun.  The administration is targeting the end of the year to have the final plans in place and the bidding process should begin in early 2023.

The town is pursuing financing options to cover the underbudgeted plan.  “We don’t like to borrow,” said Supervisor Torreggiani.  He noted that the town has a “great” credit rating but “Our borrowing capacity is not high enough to cover this project,” based on the existing bonds that were previously issued.

“We are in the process of looking to apply for state grants and possible loans in hopes of covering the gross underestimation of the overall cost for this project,” he said.




Popular Stories