Official: Cost of renovation higher than expected

City faces overrun on improvements to riverside site

MIDDLETOWN — A delay in construction materials and additional costs have slowed the completion of the city’s portion of structural work on the former canoe club, causing uncertainty about when the facility will open, an official said.

The new tenants, Eli Cannon’s Tap Room owners Rocco and Aubrey LaMonica, will launch a brewery, restaurant, snack shack and cafe at the Mattabesett Canoe Club, at 80 Harbor Drive on the Connecticut River, once renovations are completed, former director of Economic and Community Development Joe Samolis said during a recent 80 Harbor Drive Building Committee meeting.

Mayor Ben Florsheim has said the new eatery will “change the face of Middletown.”

Samolis said he expects the engineering and design firm Tighe and Bond to soon finalize its plans.

Structural repairs and

upgrades are now underway, said Samolis, who presented the project budget changes to the committee last month.

Members were asked to approve purchase orders for additional work. The quotes include engineering and architectural work ($103,500), roofing ($146,500) a fire alarm system ($92,075) and additional electrical work ($68,395).

The cost to date for general contracting is $348,586.

“It’s nice to see a full agenda. It means progress, which is so essential,” Majority Leader Gene Nocera told Samolis during the meeting.

“The one element that we cannot control is material and time frames,” as well as when they’ll become available, Samolis said.

When crews took down the building’s rear deck last month, a segment of the roofing where the Middletown High School “Dragon Shack” will be was exposed, creating more work, Samolis said.

An analysis by Tighe and Bond structural engineers showed the second and third floors are not being supported by the first-floor ceiling, Samolis said. He said the sagging floor will need to be repaired and additional iron work is required to ensure the weight load is carried down sufficiently to the first level and foundation.

The entire HVAC system is being redone, and the city is hoping to reuse a lot of components already in place, Samolis said. The duct work isn’t up to code, even when the previous tenant occupied the building, he added.

The goal is a “resilient, sustainable building redesign of the whole (HVAC) system,” Samolis explained.

He outlined additional expenditures that have been incurred during the renovations to pay for bringing the building up to code, pending a safety inspection.

Other costs include the $53,480 for cleaning and preparation of the building’s exterior to ready it for painting,

Rocco LaMonica assured commission members that

although additional funding is required for the city’s portion of the project, his side of things are “ready to go.”

“I know this is a big sticker-shock,” he said.

The committee will next meet June 8 at 5:30 p.m.

For information, visit middletownct.gov.

Cassandra Day / Hearst CT Media The former Mattabesett Canoe Club, at 80 Harbor Drive in Middletown.

Cassandra Day / Hearst Connecticut Media Above and below, sections of the old Mattabassett Canoe Club site, at 80 Harbor Drive in Middletown, are undergoing repairs. The riverside property is being prepared to house a new restaurant, cafe and brewery.