Rio Nuevo’s face-lift of the Tucson Convention Center is scheduled to start in a few weeks.
But leaky pipes and other problems at the long-neglected arena threatened to wreak havoc on the $7.8 million project if nothing was done about them too.
To prevent the project from unraveling, the City Council approved $760,000 Tuesday afternoon to fix air conditioning ducts, patch pipes and replace sinks and toilets.
The issues came to light recently when Rio Nuevo’s construction team was preparing the TCC for improvements.
Even though it’s a Rio Nuevo project, maintenance and repair work at the arena fall under the city’s purview.
Council members chafed at the idea of having to spend more money, especially after just learning the city must close a $33.2 million budget gap.
Karin Uhlich was troubled by the $120,000 line item for project management services.
“This is the kind of thing that concerns me about the city’s organization,” Uhlich said. “I don’t know how many construction project managers we have spread out in different departments” that should be consolidated them.
“I just think we’re doing business as usual and it’s got to stop,” said Uhlich, who cast the lone dissenting vote.
The city could wait, said Ron Lewis, director of the city’s general services department. But that would cost even more in the future, as crews would have to smash through newly renovated walls and ceilings to fix in a few years what everyone knows is broken today.
Councilman Steve Kozachik concurred with Lewis’ logic.
He said the city created these issues at the TCC by avoiding routine maintenance for years in order to save money and mask budget holes.
He said the city must start addressing its infrastructure issues at all of its properties and stop punting them down the road.
Rio Nuevo expects to begin construction on the TCC’s bathrooms, ceilings, and concession areas in early March. The project is projected to last around nine months.
While TCC visitors will appreciate the modest improvements to the dilapidated arena, a recent Rio Nuevo audit determined the TCC would require at least $100 million worth of improvements if it wants to compete nationally again.
Rio Nuevo Chairman Fletcher McCusker has said the district won’t have that kind of money by itself. He said if the region wants a first-class arena the funding would have to come from both the private and public sector.
