Serving Whitman County since 1877
Serving Whitman County since 1877
Farmington’s gazebo, bell tower and basketball court projects are moving ahead.
The gazebo and bell tower roofs will be replaced this summer with money donated by the Farmington Harvest Festival committee. The 1940s basketball court will be rehabilitated with money from a Community Development Block Grant and donations solicited by city hall.
Mayor Ron Dugan was set to meet with a contractor from Quality Fence of Princeton, Idaho, Wednesday to discuss the roof replacements.
“We need to make sure we’re getting what we’re getting,” Dugan said.
He indicated that once the details are set, he will consult the Harvest Festival committee and then the city council for approval.
One way or another, the new roofing will be metal, replacing the mossy wooden shingles.
“Nobody really suggests using wood now,” Dugan said. “It’s a fire hazard and it deteriorates.”
Dugan has met with four other roofing contractors. Quality Fence was the lowest bid, although they have not officially been chosen. Dugan said he expects the council to award the contract at its May 20 meeting.
The committee for last September’s first Farmington Harvest Festival donated $5,500 to the city for the roofing projects.
Dugan said the job will be complete this summer.
Another project is the restoration of the town’s basketball court next to the city park.
“I’ve got to get creative,” Dugan said of the project which he thinks will cost more than the $20,000.
Last September, the town received a $14,000 Washington State Community Economic Revitalization Board (CERB) grant, which Dugan followed with 250 letters seeking donations. A total of 38 people or companies responded, bringing in another $6,000.
The old, cracked concrete must be removed. Then 65 cubic yards of debris, which the mayor said could cost as much as $75 a ton, must be removed. One cubic yard approximates a ton.
“We basically can’t afford that,” Dugan said. “So maybe we can find a farmer with a hole to fill.”
A third step would be to lay down a rock base and then put down the concrete for the court. Asphalt could be used to cut costs, Dugan said.
From there, two hoops and some fencing would be put in.
Dugan indicated that he thought the project may be done in phases, beginning this summer.
“The strategy is to get the concrete slab poured this year and we can do the rest later,” Dugan said.
The hoops at the basketball court were taken down last May, because of insurance concerns that the court’s cracked concrete was a “trip hazard.”
The court was originally built as a donation from the local Kiwanis Club.
Garth Meyer is a former Whitman County Gazette reporter.
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