An anonymous
benefactor likes what he sees happening at Oil City's historic National
Transit Building so much that he promised the remaining funds Tuesday
needed to purchase a new boiler for the complex's yellow annex.
Oil City
Civic Center board President Jan Beichner said the Oil City man was the
same one who donated $3,000 in 2004 to help purchase a Victorian-style
clock that is mounted on the main Transit Building at the corner of Center
and Seneca streets.
"He called
today and said he likes what we're doing downtown," Beichner said. "I
asked him what he wanted us to do for him, and he said to keep trying to
keep the lights on downtown. He wants to do this to honor his father and
grandfather."
Beichner said
both of the man's relatives worked in the Transit Building for the
National Transit Co.
Estimates for
the new boiler have been tagged at approximately $38,000, $25,000 of which
has been raised by the Civic Center. The donor has agreed to give the
remaining $13,000, probably within two weeks, Beichner said.
Oil City
Council awarded $10,000 toward the project on Monday in support of the
city-backed downtown arts revitalization initiative. The first $15,000
came after Glenn Cochran, community development manager of the Oil Region
Alliance, submitted a grant request to the Dr. and Mrs. Arthur William
Phillips Charitable Trust.
Arts
revitalization representatives have said the boiler and the need for heat
were the last remaining pieces needed to open the Transit Annex to artists
for shop, exhibit and studio space. The building mostly is vacant and the
ground and second floors will be the first available spaces for artists.
Several artists, both locally and some from out of town, have expressed
interest in using Transit space.
The annex
does not have a working elevator, but the second floor is attached to the
main Transit structure, which does have a working elevator, Beichner
added.
The Civic
Center board of directors first became aware of the building's need for a
new boiler after the older mechanism was fired up for the first time in
years. It quickly became apparent that the old unit no longer was up to
the task of heating the century-old building, Beichner said.
"We still had
the old boiler and thought there would not be a problem with it," she
said. "When we turned it on, the gas bills more than doubled and we
couldn't get the temperature to go over 55 degrees. We shut it down and
had it inspected. It was determined that it was not energy efficient
enough to heat the building."
Special
electrical service was installed on the building's third floor and that
floor's partial tenant, Community Services of Venango County, has used
electric heaters.
The board has
been collecting quotes for a new boiler, and some are interested in the
type of work that a local heating expert completed in a local church.
Beichner said that man's work at the church saved 40 percent on fuel bills
- not only because the new boiler was more energy efficient, but because
it makes use of computerized zoning to heat only certain areas of the
church. A similar system is eyed for the Transit Annex that would utilize
original infrastructure.
"We want to
use whatever we have, and we would never take out the original steam
registers because they're basically the way the building was designed to
be heated anyway," Beichner said. "But we may have some pipes that will
need to be replaced."
She also is
drafting a letter of understanding to the city explaining that the
boiler's main purpose will be for artists and the downtown arts movement -
a request that City Manager Tom Rockovich and city council members made
Monday after awarding the $10,000.
"We're using
the boiler for the annex to make it available for the artists to come in
and basically kick off the arts revitalization project," Beichner said.
January 10, 2007