Gainesville City Hall is getting a new roof
Workers with West Plains Roofing began work to replace the roof of Gainesville City Hall recently. This photo, taken last Friday, shows the roof in varying degrees of replacement. The section toward the front of the building has the TPO covering applied, the middle section has the old shingles removed but the TPO hasn’t been applied and the section in the back of the building, left in this photo, has the old shingles on.
Workers with West Plains Roofing began work to replace the roof of Gainesville City Hall recently. The roof is being replaced with TPO (thermoplastic polyolefin), a relatively inexpensive roofing material primarily made from recycled rubber. TPO is a common choice for roofing large commercial buildings, as it is known to be extremely durable and energy efficient.
City water specialist Jessi Price said that the building’s roof was bowing and allowing water to stand, causing disrepair and issues with leaks. Shingles were also becoming loose and coming off.
Two companies submitted bids for the project this spring.
Rick’s Roofing bid the project at $27,900 for a shingled roof, and a metal roof at $42,750. His bid included replacing the bad decking at the current price of materials plus work at $25 an hour.
West Plains Roofing submitted a bid for $89,950 for an architectural shingled roof, $108,250 for a metal roof and $84,000 for the TPO option.
The city council voted on the bids during its April 19 meeting.
Treva Warrick made a motion to hire Rick’s Roofing to reroof the building with shingles. Renee Schmucker seconded the motion. There were two yeas and four nays, meaning the motion failed.
Then Lana Bushong made a motion to hire West Plains Roofing to install the TPO roofing system, which included total demolition and rebuilding of the middle section of the building at the $84,000 price point. Dana Crisp seconded the motion. There were five yeas, and one council person abstained from the vote, meaning the motion passed.
The city purchased the building 13 years ago in 2009 from the Amyx Auto Co., who formerly operated a Ford dealership inside of it. The roof was last replaced 28 years ago.