The Franklin County Commission is requesting that the local tourist Development Council provide over 270 thousand dollars toward the cost of installing a new fire suppression system at the Fort Coombs Armory in Apalachicola.
The cost of the project is more than double what the county expected, but it is needed if the county wants to use the historic building as a convention center and destination for private events.
The lowest bid for the work was nearly 970 thousand dollars, far above the expected cost of 425 thousand.
The engineers for the project have managed to pare down the cost to about 690 thousand dollars, but that is still far more than the county has to pay for the work.
The county has received two grants from the State Fire Marshall’s office totaling $350,000 and they also have about 87 thousand dollars in insurance proceeds to go towards the cost of the project.
The rest will have to come from the TDC.
Commission chairman Ricky Jones, who also serves on the TDC, said the money is available at this time, thanks to a recent increase in the county's tourist development tax.
The installation of a new fire suppression system at the Fort Coombs Armory is necessary.
Without the system, the building is limited to a capacity of only 50 people, though it will easily hold many more than that.
The project also requires the removal of lead-based paint from the building which will have to be done before the installation of the sprinkler system.
Once the work is complete, The Tourist Development Council will manage the bookings, maintaining the location calendar and handling the promotion of the armory as a destination venue.
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