Notes from Simpsonville City Council: ‘Happy Accident’ Extends Simpsonville Arts Center Renovation Schedule

The Simpsonville Arts CenterThe renovation of was extended for another two months.

Construction on the facility upgrades, which began in March, is expected to be completed by December 15, city administrator Dianna Gracely said in her report at a September 28 meeting.

“We widened the scope of the project a bit with the general contractor, which extended the end of the contract period,” she said. “The subcontractor who poured the drywall was a little confused about the scope of his work. As a result, instead of a drop ceiling in the hall, which we had planned in the design, he actually installed the drywall on the ceiling, which gave us about five feet of ceiling height. It’s a very nice and happy accident so we’re adding some extra lighting to complement the extra headroom and make it look like it fills that space a bit.

Improvements to the Arts Center include:

• Floor finishing
• Paint
• Ticket office construction
• Installation of recessed lights and chandeliers
• Sound system and performance lighting installation
• Seat installation
• Loading dock at the back of the building

The center also received new windows, HVAC, sprinkler system and roof.

Once completed, the project will cost $ 2.4 million, including $ 500,000 from a grant from the Appalachian Regional Commission.

The Arts Center is expected to be unveiled to the public in mid-January 2022 and will feature performances by the Mill Town Players.

The city also plans to receive proposals from artists who would like to rent a space.

Refuse:

Annexation and rezoning of 18.3 acres at 612 Neely Ferry Road.

The applicant, Zenith Real Estate, proposed a single-family neighborhood of 42 age-restricted units for residents aged 55 and over.

The price of each house would have been between $ 400,000 and $ 500,000, which some members of the city council did not think corresponded to the area.

“I have some concerns about this,” said Councilor Matthew Gooch. “Usually at this point we see some traffic studies done, some sort of mockup or we have an idea of ​​what we’re going to see and we don’t know the materials. You tell us that they (the developer) are going to do “ABC”, but it’s between you and them. I know we talked about building affordable housing, but you say it could cost between $ 400,000 and $ 500,000. Nothing around, it’s between $ 400,000 and $ 500,000.

The town planning commission also recommended that city council reject Zenith’s proposal.