DAYTONA BEACH — The historic oceanfront Bandshell, the sandcastle-like structure that’s been overlooking the waves since the 1930s, is going to get a nearly $1 million interior overhaul.
City commissioners voted unanimously at their meeting Wednesday night to tackle a complete demolition of the inside of the unique coquina rock edifice that’s been used for everything from open air concerts to political rallies to cheerleading competitions since 1937.
The 80-year-old Bandshell’s interior has not been renovated in more than 50 years, city officials say. All of the electrical, plumbing, heating and air-conditioning equipment and other structures don’t meet current city codes and Americans with Disabilities Act requirements, according to city records.
The project will involve adding more energy efficient technology; replacing architectural elements, electrical, heating, ventilation and plumbing fixtures; painting and replacing all interior flooring. City officials say the original estimate for the work has gone up with the requirement to use special corrosion-resistant materials such as stainless steel and to enhance protection of all exterior equipment from the aggressive ocean environment. Costs also climbed when it was discovered that there had been a greater than expected extent of deterioration and that there’s a need for an extended 10-year warranty against rusting and damage.
The total bill is expected to come to $998,891. The city will cover costs by pulling $180,321 from the Main Street Redevelopment Area Fund, $468,570 from the Grant Projects Fund and $350,000 from the Capital Projects Fund.
The Bandshell has been on the U.S. National Register of Historic Places since 1999. The restoration will not disturb the exterior of the structure, which was one of several Works Progress Administration projects along Daytona Beach’s oceanfront during the Great Depression when construction workers were elated to find jobs.
The renovations will be done by Daytona Beach-based General Mechanical Corporation, which was selected as the lowest responsible bidder.
Also at Wednesday’s meeting, commissioners straightened out a snafu with the city’s new budget and property tax rate adopted in September. The official public notice for the tax rate and budget was determined by the state Department of Revenue to be in violation of the law, which necessitated an additional newspaper notice, public hearing and vote of city commissioners.
Here’s how the city’s budget officer, Fred Coulter, explained what happened in a Nov. 2 email to City Manager Jim Chisholm.
“Today we received a notice from the Department of Revenue,” Coulter wrote. “When I drafted the advertisements for the budget hearing, there was a mistake on the notice of proposed tax increase. Rather than including both the Downtown Development Authority and the city of Daytona Beach actual property tax levy for fiscal year 2016/17 on the notice, I only included the city of Daytona Beach. This had the effect of overstating the size of the tax increase.”
Coulter said the Department of Revenue reviewed and approved the new advertisement.
Under state law, if there is a mistake on such an advertisement, the City Commission hearing passing the budget is unacceptable, Coulter said. Two new hearing notice advertisements had to be published within fifteen days of receiving the notification from the Department of Revenue, and the additional budget hearing had to be held within two to five days of the advertisements’ publication.
“If we do not hold a budget hearing during the window specified by the Department of Revenue, we would be subject to the loss of revenue sharing and our property taxes would be limited to the roll back rate,” Coulter wrote in his email.
In a Nov. 2 email to city commissioners, Chisholm said the extra advertisement and hearing didn’t impact the budget. On Wednesday night, commissioners again adopted a property tax rate of $6.33 for every $1,000 of assessed taxable value. That equates to a 3 percent increase from the rolled-back rate of $6.15.
The rolled-back rate is the charge needed to collect the same amount of property tax revenue as was collected in the previous budget year. This year the city projects it will raise $27.7 million in property tax revenue.
Commissioners also again adopted a total budget of $227 million for the fiscal year that began Oct. 1.
A third item on Wednesday’s meeting agenda was delayed until Dec. 6. That measure proposes amending the city’s Land Development Code to permit additional two-year extensions for temporary redevelopment project parking lots that are located on property that is part of an unexpired development agreement that was approved by the City Commission, demonstrate a need for the extension and meet all temporary parking lot standards.
The owners of a parking lot near the Boardwalk, a site long targeted for a new hotel, requested the change.
