An exposed drainpipe south of the Vicksburg Auditorium will increase the cost of installing a handicap ramp at the building by more than $11,000.
The Board of Mayor and Aldermen amended the city’s contract with Byram-based Paveco by $11,634 at a special meeting Tuesday to allow the company to repair the problem. The project’s original cost was $75,000, which includes building handicap parking spaces.
Landscape director Jeff Richardson said the pipe, which is part of a system that drains the parking lot for the Warren County Board of Supervisors offices on a hill overlooking the auditorium, was uncovered while workers were excavating an area south of the building for parking spaces. The pipe sits about two feet above the excavated area.
He said plans call for the contractor to install a junction box at the pipe to allow water draining from the parking lot to drop to a lower pipe and drain off to the west. He said a cinderblock wall using block provided by the city will cover the junction.
The handicap ramp is part of a project to upgrade to the entrance of the 58-year-old building. Part of the project cost is being paid with a $50,000 allocation from Ames, Iowa VenuWorks, a management firm that has a contract with the city to operate the Vicksburg Convention Center.
At one time, VenuWorks’ contract with the city included operating the auditorium. The city took over management of the auditorium when the board approved a new contract with VenuWorks on October 2013.
Built in 1956, the auditorium has hosted the Miss Mississippi Pageant, been the venue for annual Veterans Day and Memorial Day programs, programs honoring Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., musical and comedy shows, dance recitals and parties, and the Board of Mayor and Aldermen were sworn into office there in July 2013.