Landrum City Council members met in a special called meeting Thursday, Feb. 2 to discuss design options for the depot. During that meeting, members unanimously voted to move forward with a $66,250 design option for the interior meeting space of the depot.
City Administrator Steve Wolochowicz said the council had three options to choose from and felt, though more expensive, the third option would carry the depot better into the future.
“The council did decide to proceed with the more expensive route that would open up the space in the meeting portion of the depot,” Wolochowicz said. “I think they figured this was their one shot to give the building a deserving renovation. This building will be around for generations after the upgrade, so I think they felt it was better to do it right.”
With the meeting space comprising more than two-thirds of the depot building, Wolochowicz said this decision was crucial to the overall look and feel inside the building.
The selected option would remove the ceiling section from the meeting area and completely replace the trusses of the roof over that section. Doing so would bring the height of the interior ceiling in the space up to 21 feet, 6 inches and would cost an estimated $66,250.
This third option costs $30,000 more than option one but opens up the ceiling of the meeting space by an additional four feet than the first choice.
The first option focused on using the existing roofing structure, making only minimal modifications. Option one was estimated to cost $35,750 and would have left the ceiling at 17 feet, 6 inches in the space. The council’s second choice was to open the ceiling up slightly more with moderate changes to bring the height up to 20 feet. This plan would have cost the city $52,750.
Wolochowicz said option three with its ceiling height of 21 feet, six inches would do the most to make the room feel more open and larger.
“That is really the maximum height you could take it, but it would really open up the space tremendously,” he said. “It would be the most open concept and it will really, really look nice.”
This is just another of a handful of steps Landrum must take before breaking ground on the depot renovations later this year.
Wolochowicz said the city is still waiting for cooperation from Norfolk Southern on whether the circular pergola could encroach about 13 feet toward the edge of the track. Wolochowicz said he believes the best they may be able to get is 25 feet from the centerline of the railroad. He said if this is the case the design would have to be modified somewhat but hopefully could maintain the general feel council members are hoping to achieve.
Council’s March meeting, meanwhile, would be the first reading for an issuance of bonds needed to pay for the renovations. A public hearing to discuss the bonds will be held in April. By early summer the project is expected to go out for bids.