It happened last year: A rascally raccoon chewed through wiring at the Gilcrease Museum, throwing a wrench in its operations for a time.
Museum officials can laugh about the incident now, but it served as a reminder of just how important it is to keep on top of maintenance issues.
They responded by working with the city to create a comprehensive list of needed infrastructure improvements.
That list - totaling more than $11 million in projects - was presented to city councilors earlier this year as they began to craft the city's next capital improvements package.
The council's latest proposed list, totaling $919.9 million in projects, includes $9 million for the museum.
The funding would pay to resurface a parking lot, repair the roof, upgrade the fire suppression system and about 20 other nuts-and-bolts projects.
It is, after all, a capital improvements package. And while councilors have proposed spending more on the Gilcrease than on the BOK Center, Cox Business Center and the Performing Arts Center combined, none of the four facilities would walk away with any bells or whistles. It's all nuts and bolts.
Here's a look at the proposed funding for each:
Gilcrease Museum ($9.04 million): Nearly $1.7 million would go to repair sections of the roof. More than $1 million is allocated to upgrade the HVAC steam humidification system, and about $1.5 million is targeted for resurfacing the north parking lot and expanding the north and south lots.
Gilcrease Executive Director Duane King said leaking roofs and an imperfect humidifying system can put art work in jeopardy and make for an unpleasant experience for patrons.
"Some of those leaks have been in galleries," King said. "We have had to take paintings off the wall."
The Gilcrease Museum opened in 1949 and has expanded several times since. It now covers 147,000 square feet.
The proposed funding would not fix all 32 sections of roofing, King said, but would address those areas most in need of repair.
Other projects proposed for funding include refinishing gallery floors, replacing gallery light controls and renovating public restrooms.
The University of Tulsa manages the museum for the city of Tulsa. Susan Neal, the university's vice president of public affairs, said the City Council's proposed funding shows the city takes that commitment seriously.
"We think the city is being very responsible and we are grateful to the city," she said.
Performing Arts Center ($5.52 million): Two of the largest projects proposed for funding will likely never be noticed - a new roof and new fire sprinklers.
The biggest ticket item is listed as "renovations" and includes everything from new carpeting and wall coverings in the Chapman Music Hall to improvements to the Third Street ticket office.
"There's not any one project that is that huge, just a bunch of stuff to catch up on," said PAC Director John Scott.
The PAC's $5.5 million in proposed funding also includes $520,000 for a new fire alarm system.
Scott said he is still hopeful the council will consider funding for the PAC's expansion. The original cost estimate for that was about $8 million but has since been reduced to $4 million.
Scott said it's important to remember that the PAC provides more than entertainment. PAC generated $10.8 million in ticket sales in fiscal year 2013, with the recent run of The Lion King pumping an estimated $45 million into the local economy, Scott said.
"A lot of people don't understand that there really is a serious business to the arts," he said.
BOK and Cox Business centers ($1.3 million): Councilors have proposed giving the BOK Center $450,000 for a new fire alarm system.
The Cox Business Center, formally known as the Maxwell Convention Center, would receive $850,000 to upgrade the HVAC system and the roof over the exhibit hall.
The BOK Center's list of capital needs topped $8 million, with the Cox Business Center's list at $10.5 million.
Councilor G.T. Bynum said that when considering the centers' capital needs, councilors took into account the fact that there is a capital fund in place for the facilities that is funded with excess operating funds.
The fund currently has $4.9 million in it and is used to pay for capital needs exceeding $7,500, said John Bolton, who manages the BOK and Cox Business centers.
Bolton said the BOK Center's fire alarm system needs to be replaced because it is better suited for the relative quiet of an office building - not the loud noises and pyrotechnics common to an arena.
"Because of the sensitivity of the system, we are forced to shut the system down during several events in order to prevent false fire alarms," Bolton said in an email. "In order to remain within Tulsa fire codes, (firefighters) must be present at each event to verify the validity or invalidly of each alarm."
Public meetings
The City Council last week approved a draft list of $919.9 million in capital improvement projects that it will present to the public in town hall meetings over the next month. Councilors will use the input from those meetings to complete its list before sending it to voters on Nov. 12.
The list of meetings is as follows:
July 30: Martin Regional Library, 2601 S. Garnett Road (Council Districts 5 and 6)
Aug. 5: OU-Tulsa Schusterman Center Auditorium, 4502 E. 41st St. (Council Districts 4 and 9)
Aug. 6: Rudisill Regional Library, 1520 N. Hartford Ave. (Council Districts 1 and 3)
Aug. 13: Carbondale Assembly of God, 2135 W. 51st St. (Council District 2)
Kevin Canfield 918-581-8313
kevin.canfield@tulsaworld.com
Original Print Headline: Delayed repairs are at core of capital plan
