Funding still short for new visitors center at scenic vista

State, local task force continues to fine tune design plans

N.H. Department of Transportation is continuing to fine tune plans for a new visitors center at Intervale Scenic Vista while awaiting word on additional funding to build the facility.The estimated cost of the project is now at $2.1 million well above the original projection of about $1.3 million. A decision to build the facility into the embankment rather than above ground added substantially to the site costs. That decision was made at the insistence of local citizens and officials who were concerned that an above-ground facility would obstruct the views of the intervale.With $1.3 million budgeted, Sen. John Sununu, who was a member of the U.S. House Appropriations Committee at the time, attached an additional $500,000 to the 2003 U.S. Department of Transportation Appropriations bill for the scenic vista project. The bill is now awaiting final legislative approval.At a meeting Tuesday, Ed Bergeron, chairman of a local task force that is working alongside the state in designing the new visitors' center, said he was "optimistic" that the additional $500,000 would be secured. The funding request has Sununu's backing in the Senate, Bergeron said, and U.S. Rep. Jeb Bradley, who has just taken office, has assured Bergeron that he will "push on the House side."But Greg Goucher, of DOT, said that even if the $500,000 federal appropriation goes through, there probably still won't be enough money to build the facility. If that's the case, he said, "we'll have to go back to the state" for additional funding.In the meantime, DOT has been instructed to proceed with design plans for the project. If the money is in place, Goucher said, the project could conceivably go out to bid in late summer, with construction to start after Columbus Day.The proposed visitors' center would be 6,000 square feet, replacing the existing 900-square-foot facility. The new facility would include a large viewing area; informational brochures and cultural displays; equipment and mechanical storage; an office; and restrooms.On Tuesday, Goucher updated local task force members on the plans, taking them step-by-step through the various design elements of the project.One element of the site work is a $50,000 septic system, which would be used temporarily until North Conway Water Precinct extends sewer to that area in conjunction with Route 16 road improvements planned by the state. Bergeron said it was important to get scenic vista plans to precinct Superintendent Gary Chandler so that he can incorporate them into his plans for the sewer system. He suggested that the pipes could be put in place during construction of the visitors' center "while we're waiting for a connection" to the sewer system.There was also discussion about the color scheme for the visitors' center site. Goucher said a final decision on colors can't be made until the project is out to bid, manufacturers are identified and "we know what colors are available." But task force member John Wacker, a landscape architect, stressed the importance of tying all the colors together "so it's not a mishmash or hodgepodge."Wacker said he didn't think the state or the task force should be "fixed on a gray scheme." He suggested warmer, more "earthy" colors." Specifically, he mentioned that there is a type of granite that is indigenous to the area that could be used in the building and facade and possibly some of the paving. The granite used to be known as redstone and is now referred to as "Madison pink" by Fletcher Granite, which owns the quarry.Alluding to all the work that has been done to date to make the site and building as attractive as possible, Wacker said, "I think we can finish this off in the right way." He said incorporating Madison pink into the construction would be the ultimate in elegance "in design and follow-through."