Oct 2017: City of Berkeley hires Siegel & Strain Architects!

On October 17, 2017, the Berkeley City Council approved a resolution on the consent calendar that marked a huge turning point in our rebuilding effort – the hiring of Siegel & Strain Architects to take us from today to the opening of camp.  This firm won the bid with experience and the City staff knowing they’d be the best firm to build our camp! FOBTC submitted a formal letter of support to the Mayor and Council, and have had past experience with this firm. FOBTC Board Member Ari Vared worked with them to rebuild Camp Newman, and couldn’t say enough great things about them.

Check out their work: http://www.siegelstrain.com/

Here’s the formal resolution:

Contract: Siegel & Strain Architects for Architectural and Engineering Services for the Berkeley Tuolumne Camp Design
From: City Manager
Recommendation: Adopt a Resolution authorizing the City Manager to execute a contract and any amendments with Siegel & Strain Architects in an amount not to exceed $4,300,000 to provide architectural and engineering services for the Berkeley Tuolumne Camp Design Project.
Financial Implications: Playground Camp Fund – $4,300,000
Contact: Scott Ferris, Parks, Recreation and Waterfront, 981-6700

The quick picture at this point looks like this:

1) Insurance money continues to roll in – and the City continues to negotiate with insurance and FEMA for all the remaining funds.

2) Siegel & Strain take the proposed zoning designs done by 2M Architects and begin a new design phase – what Camp might REALLY look like in reality. This phase will have a public informational process, likely at the 60 % design stage – in 5 – 6 months. The City will keep us updated and we’ll be sure to let everyone know. This phase will tell us what can be rebuilt, what insurance and FEMA will cover, etc.. and will also inform us as to what will NOT be covered. That gap is what FOBTC is looking to support so we can have the camp we all want.

3) The USFS NEPA (The National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) requires federal agencies to assess the environmental effects of their proposed actions prior to making decisions) process is continuing, and City staff are confident they’ve addressed all the issues.

4) The timeline to opening day is 2021! We’ll keep pushing and supporting that timeline!

In May 2017, the City Manager briefed Council on the Berkeley Tuolumne Camp reconstruction, and in particular, the City’s ongoing negotiation with insurance and the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA), the primary funders of the reconstruction of Berkeley Tuolumne Camp (BTC). In addition, this memo provides information about camp and recreation program scholarships and outreach efforts.

Click here to read through the City’s timeline for rebuilding, and the update:

2017-05-02 BTC Status Update 050217

FOBTC is actively engaged in every part of this effort to get camp rebuilt as soon as possible. Thank you for joining and supporting our efforts! Your contributions and support of this non-profit is helping us stay on top of this every day, and will also help close the gap of what we want to build at Camp that will not be funded by insurance, FEMA and the City.