A remodeling project has begun at the Scotia Museum, to make the building compliant with the Americans with Disabilities Act and also install a heating, ventilation, and air conditioning (HVAC) system in the historic building.
The Eureka-based company ACGC, Inc. is doing the construction work.
ADA improvements are planned for the Scotia Museum entrance and the bathrooms.
“Improvements will include reconstruction of an existing reception/transaction counter, new handrails, and two-inch warning strips at the existing entrance stairs,” said Scotia Community Services District (CSD) General Manager Leslie Marshall.
Marshal said the CSD has worked with Whitchurch Engineering and DJ Cleek Co. on designing the remodeling plans.
The Scotia Community Services District owns the Scotia Museum, the former First National Bank of Scotia, which has been closed for several years because of ADA issues.
Other ADA improvements include the replacement of a reception/transaction counter, remodeling two existing restrooms into one ADA-compliant, unisex bathroom, and the removal of an interior staircase barrier. The staircase in question, which has been removed, provides access to the upstairs at the museum. The staircase will be relocated and reconstructed to be ADA-compliant.
An HVAC system will be installed in the building, providing benefits for the numerous historic documents and artifacts that are stored in the museum. The documents, photographs, and artifacts are mainly from The Pacific Lumber Company and document decades of history of the former company-owned town of Scotia.
The building was built in 1920 as the First National Bank of Scotia and used steam heat, provided by The Pacific Lumber Company’s Scotia biomass power plant. When steam heat was discontinued at the museum, small electric heaters were used in the building.
The bank was closed, and the building became the Scotia Museum in the 1950s.
The Scotia Museum ADA compliance and HVAC project is estimated to cost nearly $275,000 and scheduled to be completed in April of this year.
