Cannon Beach Elementary School Remodel Moving Ahead

Submitted By: rkinor@gmail.com – Click to email about this post
The Cannon Beach remodel of their 1950 Elementary School and Quonset Hut continues. Work completed on the School thus far includes: complete new roof and gutters, minor structural repairs, seismic strengthening and asbestos removal. Work will soon begin on installing a new roof for the Quonset Hut.

This is the third Community meeting that the Cannon Beach City Council has invited citizens to share their ideas on how to turn this asset into an energy efficient and code compliant model community center that will serve residents for many years into the future.

Based on actual construction costs to date just for the School, it appears that total remodel cost will be less than $2 million for 5,000 square feet of space. This compares to the $4.9 million estimated cost in April 2021 that the City Council used during its Manzanita Listens community outreach for a 6,500 square foot new build project.

Facts would suggest that the total costs of a remodel option of a structure exactly similar to the Underhill School with respect to age, structural design, size and existing condition taking place as we speak 15 miles north of Manzanita is a very cost effective option.

Remodel Advantages: Less total project cost Less financing cost Less long term debt
Less environmental impact Preserves an example of Manzanita architectural history Allows funds to be used for other needed City infrastructure projects Preserves space on the Underhill property for other community uses.

Manzanita Listens concluded that cost was by far the most important consideration in building a new City Hall. Read about the project here: tinyurl.com/2p93vtjk