[B]URLINGTON — Tenants in Memorial Auditorium have agreed to be out by the end of the year because the nearly 90-year-old building is becoming increasingly unsafe, according to city officials.
Brian Lowe, chief of staff to Mayor Miro Weinberger, confirmed Tuesday that the city engineer has determined the building is structurally unsound to the point where significant renovations are needed to make it safe for occupancy in the long term.
Two tenants — the Generator “maker space” and studios for Burlington City Arts — have found new locations, according to Seven Days, which first reported the building’s impending closure. The city-operated 242 Main music venue and youth center is undergoing a public process to decide its future.
Memorial Auditorium needs at least $4 million in repairs over the next two years, including a new roof. Engineering studies as far back as 1991 identified substantial deferred maintenance needs, and the most recent study in 2014 identified as much as $17.5 million in renovations to keep the structure fit for use, according to a September 2015 memo from the Department of Public Works.
The auditorium is no longer used for events, according to the city’s website.
The city has long debated the future of Memorial Auditorium and adjacent parcels, including a city parking lot and some private property, known collectively as the Gateway Block.
Late last year Burlington’s Community and Economic Development Office drafted a request for proposals for how the block could be renovated in sections or as a cohesive project]. However, city officials were not able to confirm immediately whether the RFP was ever released.
In May the city asked the University of Vermont to consider building a long-planned sports arena on the Gateway Block, according to Tom Gustafson, vice president for university relations and administration.
UVM is also in discussions with South Burlington about building an arena there, conversations that were rekindled in February. Gustafson said negotiations with both municipalities are in the early stages but added that the university would like to settle on a plan for its arena by 2017.
“We don’t have a hard deadline, but we have some donors in the background who are kind of saying, ‘What are you going to do?’” Gustafson said.
A cursory look shows it would be possible to put a 5,000-square-foot arena on the Gateway Block, Gustafson said. But he noted that it presents significant challenges, such as potential historic preservation issues and the need for sufficient onsite parking.