TFAC: 65 percent of money spent locally
Phase I of Tryon Fine Arts Center’s master site plan is under way and on schedule. The project, primarily designed to improve access to the recently renovated auditorium, will employ 13 different businesses to complete the scope of work. Of the $500,000 allocated for the project, 65 percent of the funds will be spent in Polk County and Landrum, with the remaining 35 percent spent in Hendersonville, N.C. and Spartanburg, S.C.
“In the bidding process it was important to the master plan committee to choose local contractors if possible. But due to scheduling conflicts, scope of work and equipment needs we were not able in every instance to use our local talent,” said project manager landscape architect Mark Byington of Innocenti and Webel. “Finding contractors has been one of the more difficult parts of this project due in part to small businesses having downsized in the difficult economic climate and not being able to take on the work.”
Local contractors chosen for the project include Hyder Construction, Mosseller Construction, AA Pavers, Terry Hudson, Saluda Forge and Thompson Landscaping. One more bid is incomplete, but can be handled locally.
The project completion is scheduled for late February 2013.
The new campus will feature an 8-foot-wide winding pathway connecting parking areas behind the arts center to an updated brick plaza outside the facility’s main entrance on Melrose Avenue. Grading is in progress for an improved parking area, a 150-seat amphitheater and a linear sculpture garden. Work on the two-acre site will also include extensive stonework, landscaping and irrigation, as well as sophisticated electrical service and lighting to enhance the amphitheater and sculpture garden for public events.
Beth Child, TFAC executive director, said, “It is a lot to get done in a short period of time, but I’m confident it will come together. Our contractors are doing excellent work and have been very flexible about rescheduling, coping with weather and permit delays.”
To learn more about the project, visit www.tfacmasterplan.com or call 828-859-8322.
– article submitted by Marianne Carruth