The Venango County Economic Development Authority heard another update Tuesday on how things are going with the 100 Seneca project in downtown Oil City.
The contract with Hudson Construction is set to wrap up in September upon the arrival and installation of the air handler and the chiller, Emily Lewis, the economic authority’s executive director, said at the panel’s monthly meeting Tuesday.
The first-floor and fifth-floor packages will go out to bid in July, Lewis said.
The authority also approved a contract with Altair Real Estate Services at Tuesday’s meeting.
Altair will provide marketing services and financial modeling for 100 Seneca, such as evaluating the pro forma for the property, Lewis said.
The authority recently received a $50,000 grant from PNC Charitable Trust that will be used for work on the first floor of the bank building, Lewis said.
A meeting with the National Parks Service to appeal its decision has been scheduled for mid-July, Lewis said.
The National Park Service in its denial of the tax credit said the windows in the bank building weren’t sufficiently historic, didn’t think the mold and water damage in the building was as bad as the authority said it was, and had questions about the plans for the fifth floor, Lewis said.
At this point, Lewis said she has gathered evidence to support the decisions the authority made regarding the windows and the extent of the mold and water damage to present at the hearing.
“I don’t know what the outcome will be, but we intend to chase it the whole way to the end,” Lewis said.
In another matter, Diona Brick, the county’s chief financial officer, said the authority’s projects are at budget so far this year.
