A gleaming new face on the Mulkey Theatre should be completed in a few months as the Clarendon Economic Development Corporation takes the first steps in a $123,000 refurbishment of the building’s façade.
The CEDC Board approved soliciting a general contractor for the project after architect Mason Rogers presented his proposal for Phase One of the Mulkey project Monday evening. Proposals from contractors will be reviewed by the board on August 20 with the hopes of completing this phase before the end of the year.
CEDC President Sherol Johnston said she glad to be moving forward with the Mulkey and said the money is on hand to complete this part of the renovations.
The scope of work will include replacing stucco on the façade with a new EFIS material that is flexible and infused with the paint color, which should last at least 50 years. Contractors will also be correcting the pitch of the marquee so that water on the overhang’s roof drains properly, and badly damage stucco work on the underside of the marquee will be replaced.
New aluminum doors will be fabricated to match existing doors that have either been damaged or are difficult to use, and a new electrical service capable of supporting the entire building will be installed. Damaged tiles will be repaired or replaced, and the corrugated accent on the center of the façade will be refinished.
The project also calls for neon or LED lighting to be restored on the underside of the marquee and for new neon or LED tubing to be added in the porthole windows and along the top of the building.
“We’ve got the money for this, but we’ll still need donations to get to the inside,” said CEDC Vice President Bill Stavenhagen. “It will be a million-dollar building when we get through.”
Stavenhagen said prices for construction projects of this type are astounding and that the project will cost more than he had hoped.
“I don’t think anyone on our board thought it would be this much,” he said. “But then we didn’t think we’d spend $50,000 on the new roof either. That cost us more than the building was worth at the time.”
The architect’s estimate for Phase Two of the Mulkey renovation is $899,600 and doesn’t include the price of new seating, but CEDC board members agreed that Phase Two may have to be broken into smaller phases to complete the theatre for its intended new use not only as movie house but also as conference and visitors center. The board is also investigating private foundation grants.
“We’ll just take it one step at a time,” Stavenhagen said. “That’s all we can do.”
The board also took action Monday to approve replacing glass on the Mulkey marquee faces – much of which was damaged by hail – with new translucent acrylic material, and Johnston reported that Ferrol Shelton had volunteered to repair damaged plaster in the former Mulkey barbershop as part of the renovation of that area as a visitor’s center and economic development office.
Leave a Reply
You must be logged in to post a comment.