Water damage in the Kenai Senior Center overhang halts work and adds $45,000

Contractors re-tarring and reroofing the entry overhang at the Kenai Senior Center found structural water damage inside it, and the job is on hold while the city figures out how to pay for more.

Senior Services Director Kathy Romain told the Council on Aging last week that the crew "got in it and found structural damage to it from the water." Repairing it means stripping the siding off the structure. "The only thing that we leave in place are the beams," she said.

The city is asking the council to move $45,000 from the general fund to replace the joists holding up the roof. Public Works Director Lee Frey asked for passage in a single night so the work can finish this season. The hearing is 6 pm Wednesday.

The canopy dates to 1983. "So it's done pretty well," Romain said. "And it's time."

The council awarded the job to Orion Construction in July, bundled with a roof at Animal Control and funded at $110,000. The contract calls for completion by Oct. 31.