The change is due to cuts in Kettering’s 2020 capital improvements program based on projections of lost income tax revenue because of business shutdowns with the coronavirus, city officials have said.
Rosewood serves more than 80,000 people annually through a variety of visual and performing arts, according to the city.
It was built as an elementary school in 1965 and closed in 1984 when Kettering City Schools consolidated buildings. No significant structural or interior changes have occurred since 1985, officials have said.
Even with the revised schedule, there remains some financial uncertainty because COVID-19′s impact on city revenues is not fully known, Kettering Assistant City Manager Steve Bergstresser said.
Construction at Rosewood is “kind of pending the financial impact of the pandemic,” Bergstresser said.
Around the end of the year “we’ll make a final decision on what it looks like moving forward,” he added. “As of right now we intend to complete the renovations, but it’s a timing questions on when we start that. And it wouldn’t be until 2021 when that would begin.”
Kettering’s 2020 Capital Improvement Plan had budget included $2 million to start Rosewood’s first phase.
Before the pandemic, Kettering City Council approved a contract with LWC Inc. for $316,900 for the project’s design this year, officials said.
But in June the city pushed back the construction portion of Phase I, records show. The schedule now includes the following:
•2021: Phase I, $1.683 million;
•2022: Phase II, $1.3 million;
•2023: Phase III, $1 million.
“Mainly we’re just taking a cautious approach to expenditures in general,” Berstresser said.
“And since that’s such a big-ticket capital improvement item we just want to take our time and make sure that it’s going to be the right decision moving forward,” he added. “We fully intend to renovate it. It’s just a matter of timing and scheduling at this point.”
Phase I would include work to the roof, windows, main entrance and lobby, and brick exterior, city records show.
Phase II involves studios, kiln and mechanical space, and conference room and restroom upgrades.
The final phase includes work to the parking lot, children and dance rooms, and flex classrooms, according to city records.
Kettering City Schools deeded 7.1 acres at the Rosewood address to the city in March, according Montgomery County Auditor’s Office records.
The transaction was part of a land swap that involved former Fire Station 32 on West Dorothy Lane, this newspaper reported earlier this year.
Rosewood renovation
•2020: Design, $316,900.
•2021: Phase I, $1.683M
•2022: Phase II, $1.3M
•2023: Phase III, $1M
SOURCE: City of Kettering
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