The Tongass Historical Museum. (KRBD file photo)
The Ketchikan City Council meets in regular session Thursday, and among the items on the agenda is a revised plan to renovate the city-owned Centennial Building, which houses the city’s Museum Department.
A conceptual design submitted in late September was not endorsed by the Museum Advisory Board, and as a result, the City Council asked staff and Welsh Whiteley Architects to continue working on plans to renovate the aging building.
The new plan calls for more gallery space, but decreases the size of other areas, including the public restrooms, program activity space, storage and staff offices.
Additional gallery space will lead to more work, according to a memo from Museum Director Lacey Simpson. As a result, staff and city management have recommended restoring the Curator of Exhibits position, at a cost of about $77,000. That position was cut in 2010 to save costs.
Additional gallery space also means the cost of the renovation will increase. City Manager Karl Amylon writes in a memo that the budget for the renovation project should go up by $25,000 for additional flooring and lighting materials. That would bring the 2016 budgeted amount for the project to $425,000.
Also Thursday, the Council will continue its review of the draft 2016 city and Ketchikan Public Utilities budgets. It’s possible that both will be adopted during the meeting, which is the last scheduled Council meeting of the year.
The meeting starts at 7 p.m. in City Council chambers. Public comment will be heard at the start of the meeting.
