The Pendleton Community Center is set to be complete by late August, and to streamline operations, the Pendleton Town Board met to approve six change orders adding up to a $45,600 increase in the final bill for the construction.
The approvals were voted on at a special meeting on Monday at Pendleton Town Hall.
Supervisor Joel Maerten said he was “elated,” by the upcoming completion of the community center.
“We’ve been doing change orders throughout the process. Little things come up along the way and we’re getting very close to the end,” he said.
The costs to complete the Town Park Improvement Project, which included the community center, a splash pad, and ADA-compliant bathrooms, came to $2.54 million when groundbreaking for the center commenced in August of 2023. That price had doubled in a year’s time between August of 2022.
At that time, Maerten explained the increase by saying that parts of the project that could’ve held out another year were done with the rest of the project. It made no sense to pave a parking lot one year, he said and the next tear it apart to add a sewer line.
“It was worth it to do it right,” he said, noting that inflation in the construction industry had raised the cost of all projects in the area.
On May 22, 2023, the Pendleton Town Board authorized Maerten to bond out $1.7 million to help pay for the costs, which were also funded by two grants: a $500,000 matching grant from the state and $200,000 from the Niagara River Greenway Commission.
According to Maerten, the north wing of the building will be dedicated to the Pendleton Historical Society, the entrance to which on the inside will show a facade of a “country store.” There will also be two large meeting rooms open all year long for community groups.
“Behind it, there will be doors that open up onto the concrete slabs so you don’t walk on the grass,” Maerten said.
Currently, there still needs to be done some electrical work, as well as the installation of a window which was broken on the first try.
Since the accident, the town has upgraded to a window of tempered glass and the town board accepted the increase in price to approximately $2,500, after a $1,100 reimbursement was paid, at the special meeting.
Other change orders included snow guards to protect people and vehicles from ice cascading down the metal roof, a $20,000 increase, and $22,000 to prep the base of the patio concrete slabs.