Juneau’s Centennial Hall Convention Center is getting a new roof this summer.
North Pacific Erectors began mobilizing for the $1.4 million project about three weeks ago.
City and Borough of Juneau Project Manager Theresa Mores says the contractor plans to work around events at the hall, including this week’s Celebration festival, hosted by Sealaska Heritage Institute.
“They are going to stop construction during Celebration and then they’ll start demoing the roof immediately following Celebration,” Mores says. “That was one event that we knew about beforehand that we tried to schedule around.”
Mores expects the project to be complete by the end of August. Not only do crews want to avoid working around snow and Taku winds, but Mores says the outside temperature needs to be warm enough for adhesives to work on the roof membrane.
She says the roof will be replaced in sections.
“They’re going to start in the section that’s farthest away from their mobilization area, and go towards the mobilization area,” she says. “So they’ll demo, and then as they’re doing that their supplies will be coming into Juneau, and then they will start construction. Hopefully the timing will be just right, so they can start constructing the new roof immediately after they demo the old one.”
The mobilization area is the courtyard on the Egan Drive side of Centennial Hall. That’s typically where Sealaska Heritage does its Celebration group photo. It’s also a popular gathering spot for people attending events at the hall. SHI spokeswoman Kathy Dye says this year’s group photo will take place in the parking lot between Centennial Hall and the Juneau Arts and Culture Center on Saturday after the parade.
Mores says this is the first roof replacement in the 31-year history of Centennial Hall.
It’s past its useful life,” Mores says. “There’s stuff growing up there, and things are kind of disintegrating a little bit. It’s just time.”
Centennial Hall serves as a venue for events, concerts and meetings, as well as an emergency shelter for downtown Juneau.
The city’s legislative delegation secured funding for a new roof in the state capital budget three times, but Governors Sarah Palin and Sean Parnell vetoed the funds. Juneau voters in 2012 approved a bond measure to fund $3.2 million in maintenance and upgrades to the facility.
