The Ranch working to find space for events during reconstruction

LOVELAND – Larimer County Commissioners heard an update yesterday on the plans to reconstruct the First National Bank Exhibition Hall at The Ranch.

Work on the facility is expected to start at the end of December with completion slated for mid-July, displacing a number of events already scheduled. Bob Herrfeldt, director of The Ranch, said a majority of the events have been scheduled for other facilities on the property. However, there are nine large and 11 small events that are still working to find space.

Larimer County opted to dismantle and rebuild the facility with a new structural frame and roof to repair damage discovered after a late-2006 snowstorm. The county said the reconstruction was more cost effective than repairing the existing building. The cost of the $5.9 million project will be covered by the county’s insurance policy.

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Greenwood Village-based GH Phipps was selected as the general contractor.

In December 2008, Larimer County filed a lawsuit against several companies involved in the design and construction of the exhibition hall and three other affected buildings – the indoor arena, east and west pavilions and the maintenance building. The county alleges that some of the pre-engineered metal buildings were not designed and constructed according to the original contract specifications. A mediation session is scheduled in January.

The county is still in negotiations with the insurance company over claims for the buildings other than the exhbition hall, which were initially denied, according to Marc Engemoen, Larimer County’s director of public works. The original construction costs were $4.9 million for the indoor arena, almost $3 million for the east pavilion, $2.9 million for the west pavilion and $778,000 for the maintenance building.

Engemoen added that the county has identified funds that would allow the county to move forward with design work for those sites should the insurance negotiations be unfruitful or drawn out too long.