The other day, I reported that the Parks and Recreation Department estimated the cost of making the Montopolis Negro School museum-ready would cost $5.7 million. From my admittedly non-expert perspective, that number seems ludicrous on its face. How could it cost that much to make some repairs to a one-room building? According to PARD, this is how:
I don’t understand what half of this stuff means. What the hell is “comprehensive design” and why does it cost $450,000? I have no idea. And that’s a big problem in reporting on these matters. People throw numbers around and you have no frame of reference for what a reasonable cost is.
Similarly, I reported recently on a $1.3 million roof replacement for the old Faulk Library. That’s only the tip of the iceberg when it comes to library renovations. From city staff (item 6):
Is this money well-spent? I have no idea. I simply have to place my faith in city staff.
It would be interesting to see what renting “state of the art” archival space would cost once an RFP was offered to all interested parties. Using prime downtown land for this use does not make sense to me.
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