Centre County Government is gearing up for a significant renovation of the former Centre Crest building in Bellefonte, and on Tuesday the Board of Commissioners approved a contract for one facet of the work.
Commissioners unanimously approved a contract through COSTARS, the state’s cooperative purchasing program, for replacement of the roof and related work totaling $1,459,475.
The county plans to overhaul the 118,000-square-foot, 85-year-old former nursing home building — which was vacated when Centre Care opened in 2021 in College Township — to bring multiple departments under one roof. The plan will free up crowded space in the Willowbank Building and move some departments out of scattered leased offices.
Last year, the county authorized the issuance of $40 million in general obligation bonds for capital projects, from which about $30 million will fund the Centre Crest renovation. The bond financing did not result in a tax increase.
While the roof replacement contract was approved separately from the rest of the renovation, which is still to be bid, it will be funded by the bond issuance, County Administrator John Franek Jr. said.
“The primary purpose of evaluating the roof replacement now is going through the expense of putting on solar panels now along with all the other cutting and patching of the roof for the new mechanical portions of the building,” Scott Graham, of project architect MG Architects, said. “It is more sensible, even though the roof isn’t at the end of its lifespan yet, it’s probably going to be about 60 to 70 percent through by the time we’re done. Plus, the expense of installing solar panels and taking them off to redo the roof later just doesn’t seem to be cost effective. So now is an opportunity to do this.”
The main roof will be refurbished with a Ketone Ethylene Ester (KEE) membrane system. Graham described KEE as a “woven kevlar-type material.”
“Essentially you can take a nail punch to this thing and have trouble puncturing it,” Graham said. “It is the most resilient roofing system I’ve ever seen as far as a membrane roof goes. The point of doing that now is you’ll never have to replace roofing on the building again. It will just be the basis for maintenance coatings moving forward. There’s a premium there.”
Franek added that it will allow a solar panel system to be installed without penetrating the roof with fasteners.
The roof replacement will come with a new 30-year warranty.
Other work includes drainage improvements, a lightning arrester system replacement, installation of roof walkways, replacement of two access ladders, installation of two additional ladders and a new roof hatch. Graham noted that the roof currently is only accessible from the west wing, as well as that workers currently would have to use step ladders and ladders that are not OSHA compliant.
Flashing and trim metals on roof areas, and damaged metal wall panels will be replaced, and new standing seam roofs will be installed on front and back canopies.
Commissioners declined to include in the contract replacement of undamaged metal paneling around the building for aesthetic purposes, which would have added $50,000. They also did not include installation a new standing seam roof on the garage outbuilding. The cost for the new garage roof was $60,000, which commissioners agreed seemed high. While the garage roof likely will need to be replaced in the next five years, Graham said it was not critical to include it now and the county bit it at a later date.
