HOULTON, Maine — Officials at the Gentle Memorial Building have closed the gym and recreation facility for the next month to allow for some much needed repairs.
Marie Carmichael, recreation program director for the town, said Thursday that the facility, which closed on Saturday, will remain closed until about June 8, 2016 so that Buildings Etcetera, a Houlton-based firm, can fix substantial damage to a block wall at the building.
The Houlton Town Council voted in September to accept a bid of $38,381 from the business for the repairs.
Carmichael told councilors last year that the damage had been caused by water leaks, maintenance problems over the years and a lack of funding to make the repairs that could have prevented several problems long ago.
The recreation program director said that the building customarily closes down for a while in May since it is the facility’s slowest time of the year. Though some activities still get scheduled during that time, she does not estimate that there will be any significant loss of programming revenue this year because of the repairs.
She said there was a supper planned for senior citizens in May, but that will be moved up to the Southern Aroostook Vocational Education building.
“The closure also will allow me more time to get ready for summer,” said Carmichael.
No employees will need to be laid off during the closure period, because the recreation department relies only on seasonal employees and a part-time secretary to support Carmichael.
Originally, the work had been expected to be done in October 2015, but Carmichael asked that it be done in May when the gym could be closed with less impact.
“If we had gone ahead and done this in October, I believe this would have had a much bigger impact,” she said.
