PORT TOWNSEND — Work has begun on the Memorial Field grandstand with hopes that the $365,839 project will be finished in time for the 80th annual Rhododendron Festival in mid-May.
Crews with Primo Construction of Carlsborg have been at work since Jan. 26 on the grandstand at 550 Washington St., which has been closed to the public since last May.
The contractor’s agreement for the repair of the grandstand calls for a July completion, but the county hopes the project will be finished sooner.
“The project is moving along, on schedule,” said Gordon Ramstrom, an architectural product planner for the Jefferson County Department of Public Works, on Wednesday.
“We are hoping it will be done before Rhody,” which will be May 9-17.
Bad weather is the only thing that could delay the project now, Ramstrom said.
Crews now are cleaning, painting and reinforcing the steel structure that supports the roof, he said.
They are expected to start work on the roof in a few weeks, he added.
The county was soliciting bids for the replacement of the roof and its supporting structure just prior to the 2014 Rhododendron Festival when engineer Scott Headrick discovered structural instabilities in roof beams.
After inspecting the grandstand, Headrick recommended its condemnation because of “degradation in the majority of structural members due to exposure to the salt air, rain water and lack of maintenance.”
Although the Rhody Carnival continued at Memorial Field as planned, city officials closed the grandstand last May.
The facility has since operated with rented portable grandstands.
After calling for bids twice with no successful bidder, the county commissioners awarded the job to Primo Construction over two other bidders in December.
The job includes the removal of the current roof and construction of a new one, as well reinforcing and painting the existing support structure.
The bid was awarded on a 2-1 vote, with Commissioners John Austin and Phil Johnson voting in favor and David Sullivan opposed.
Austin has left office, and his replacement, Kathleen Kler, said she would have opposed the bid award.
Both Kler and Sullivan said they recognized the importance of the project but were opposed to the construction of the roof because of budgetary constraints.
City code enforcement officer Michael Hoskins said he will conduct special inspections along the way.
He said he won’t allow the facility to open for this year’s Rhody carnival if all the work isn’t finished to specifications.
“Until it’s finalized and built per plan from the engineer’s drawing, it won’t be open,” Hoskins said.
“It’s like a bridge, where you don’t allow anyone to cross until it’s certified.”
Even if the project isn’t completed by the time of the Rhododendron Festival, there are still ways people can use the field, Hoskins said, citing its use as home field for 2014 high school football games.
A 30-foot wooden tunnel provides a protected path into the stadium from the front door, and access is also available through gates on either side of the field.
During games, the county moved in temporary bleachers and portable toilets to replace the closed facilities.
The work on Memorial Field is subsidized through a voter initiative approved in 2010 when Proposition 1 raised the Jefferson County sales tax from 0.03 percent to 9 percent — the highest on the North Olympic Peninsula.
The funds were approved for public safety and youth and senior services.
The city has provided about $212,000 annually from its share of the increase for maintenance and operation of Memorial Field and the Port Townsend Recreation Center, both county-owned facilities that are within the city limit.
The allocation of the revenue from the city to the county will end later this year. No substitute funding has been secured.
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Jefferson County Editor Charlie Bermant can be reached at 360-385-2335 or cbermant@peninsuladailynews.com.
