CORRIDOR RENOVATION:
IF you got the five-page paper titled “ECA Capital
Renovation Planning in the Age of Covid-19” authored by ECA President Lyle
Schwartz and dated 7-24-2020, you might have read that “the designer, Phyllis Hartman is awaiting input from the ECA Board
whether to proceed with the design…or put
the project on hold for a year until state and county guidelines [COVID]
are relaxed and work in the corridors might be more acceptable to owners.”
The corridors were last renovated 30 years ago. The Reserve
Study calls for renovation of such common areas every 20 years. The project was originally scheduled to be
completed over a three-year period, beginning in March-April 2021, and to run
for 3 years. Is it acceptable to you to postpone this project yet another
year?
Are you embarrassed to have friends visit, with wallpaper
torn and patched, paint in terrible shape, hallways dark and dingy, and carpet
so worn and duct-taped in places? In addition to the damage to our property
values that such shabby hallways have, a delay would most likely mean that some
of the materials will go out of stock and new selections made, increasing the
design cost.
At the coming Board meeting, the Directors will vote on
whether to continue the design process to reach completion of the RFP, giving
flexibility to the Board to proceed with “whatever schedule seems appropriate
months from now when that process is completed.” If you feel strongly that we
should no longer postpone the renovation the corridors, but move as quickly as
reasonably possible to begin this project, I hope you will either attend the
Zoom Board meeting and make your feelings known, or if you cannot attend, send
an email to the Board.
ELEVATOR RENOVATION:
In addition, a new requirement for elevator renovation looms
on the horizon with worrisome urgency. We are talking about renovation of the
interior of all six elevator cabs as well as safe operation of our elevators.
Of course, actual work on this project cannot begin until the corridors are
renovated.
Since renovation of the interior of the elevator cabs
requires input and guidance of someone with good aesthetic sense, it is curious
that the Board did not consider using the Design Committee to work on this and
adding AJ Young to this effort. AJ is a Project Manager with Marriott and
has a master’s degree in Architecture. He did a custom design (at no charge)
for the renovation of the elevator cab interiors at his Florida condo, and that
Association did not have to pay any more for the custom interior than for the
more generic basic laminate panels like we have in the garage
elevators.
AJ has offered to do the same for the Elizabeth, and this
was mentioned at a recent Board meeting, yet it is only Joe Bucherer and
MaryAnn Hall who seem to be discussing our “options and needs.” Why is
this? Why isn’t the Design Committee part of this effort? And why doesn’t
the Board consider having Phyllis Hartman design the elevator cab interiors so
that they tie into the design of the lobby and corridors? If they
do not want to spend the design fee for Hartman, then why doesn’t the Board add
AJ Young to this effort, as he would provide professional design services at no
charge?
All of this begs the question about how we can continue to
live in a building that is rapidly deteriorating. Start small and think about
how our trash chutes do not receive adequate cleaning and constantly smell bad.
Our property continues to lose market value because we have made due with cheaper
contractors, and with delaying our hallway renovation because there was a surprisingly
long garage repair project.
It is time to voice your concern about the state of our
property.
Please let the Board know how you feel about this matter.
We need to raise our voices before it is too late.
