Coming Together
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Tuesday, November 13, 2007 | 
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No Comments [ Add Comment ]By Loretta Park
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By Loretta Park
standard-Examiner davis Bureau
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By Loretta Park
standard-Examiner davis Bureau
LAYTON -- In five months, the Davis Conference Center's expansion should be ready for tourists and events.
The 43,000-square-foot expansion is about 50 percent complete.
On Wednesday, large cranes will be in town to place the trusses for the expansion's roof.
But all the additional space is not coming without a few bumps. Today, the Davis County Commission is expected to approve about $145,000 in change orders, bringing the total to $300,000 in change orders.
"This is one of our more substantial ones," said Barry Burton, of the Davis County Community and Economic Development.
The original contract was for just under $9 million. The county had budgeted $10.6 million for the expansion.
There will be six change orders in all, bringing the total to 17 since the project started in April, he said.
One of them will allow the conference center to be used as an alternate emergency-operations center in case something happens to the sheriff's dispatch center in Farmington.
Another change is going to cost about $71,000, Burton said.
"We started at $133,000, but we negotiated it down," he said.
Several electrical panels need to be moved from the structural walls to a different location so the conference center can getpower to operate the rolling doors.
Also, two large steel doors in the ballroom are being replaced at a cost of $30,000 to match the ballroom's wood doors.
Layton is also asking for $9,000 for the colored, stamped concrete it is using on its trail system in the area, Burton said.
About this time next year, conference center staff hope the Boy Scouts of America will be able to use the expansion and bring double the number of people to its auction.
"It's one of the biggest auctions in the area," said Scott Lunt, general manager of the conference center. This year, 740 people attended the auction, Lunt said.
"Right now they can only invite those in the Weber/Davis counties," Lunt said. "But the council goes to the Idaho border, so they want to get the surrounding areas involved, too."
Other groups have indicated that if the expansion is done by March, they will want to use the space, Lunt said.
"We're waiting with bated breath," said Barbara Riddle, president and chief executive officer for the Davis Area Convention and Visitors Bureau.
She said she watches out her window the progress of the construction job and "is very excited."
Businesses and groups are already making inquiries about booking the expansion area, while others have actually booked it, Riddle said.
The expansion includes 18,000 square feet of exhibit space and 7,000 square feet for a junior ballroom that can be divided into six meeting rooms, she said.
Even with the changes, Burton said, he thinks the conference center expansion should be done by April.
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