Dear Friends of Belle Isle Handball,

We received an update from Michigan DNR on the status of proposed repairs to the court ceiling (see below). Unfortunately the news is not good, especially after all this time.

The state is not prepared to spend the money for ceiling replacement this year, at least for all six courts. It is possible they will do two courts.

The current remaining money allocated is to remove the existing ceiling / roof, repair the wall cap, protect by installing coping and flashing, and paint. The DNR requires the roof removal as the structural integrity was deemed unsafe.

The hope is after all the back and forth, this work will begin shortly so the courts will open this summer. The MHA will keep you informed on this web page. If you have questions, post them here or email me and we will respond as best we can, so those answers can be shared with all MHA members.

Stewart

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On Jul 2, 2019, at 6:47 PM, Treadwell, Amanda (DNR) <TreadwellA@michigan.gov> wrote:

Hi Stewart,

I wanted to reach out to you to give you an update on the pricing we received from our contractor for the mesh ceiling system that handball players have requested. The scope of work remaining in his contract includes painting the repaired masonry structure and then the work associated with the roof removal.

The Cost for the installing the designed mesh panel ceiling would be approximately $350,000.  The DNR had added another $50,000 to this contract this year to complete the balance of work not yet addressed (not including the mesh ceiling).  This brings up the total budget for Athletic Complex improvements to $835,000.  

Please note that there is only about $65,000 left in the contract to paint the structure and address the failing roof structure.  We have many critical infrastructure needs around the park at this time. Because of the great need and our limited capital outlay budget, I believe it would be difficult secure the DNR-PRD chiefs’ approval to include in the Belle Isle 2020 budget a line item that would direct the needed funds to provide for the mesh ceiling.

To date, the masonry repairs needed to address the structural concerns within the masonry walls have been completed and the short term goal for this project would be to address the roof system so that it does not continue to compromise the masonry walls.

I would be happy to review with you further the pricing we have received from our contractor for this project and discuss our next steps.

Best Regards,

Amanda