Savannah Rapids Pavilion (SRP) suffered “a significant amount of damage” during Hurricane Helene.
That was according to County Manager Scott Johnson during the Board of Commissioners meeting on Tuesday, Oct. 15. During the meeting, commissioners ratified a commercial emergency work authorization with ServPro of Augusta for SRP. A tree fell on the facility, which set off the fire suppression system and flooded the building. Because of this damage, he authorized ServPro to start work to avoid mold growth and other issues.
Chairman Doug Duncan asked for an update on the facility and if it was going to have to be torn down. Johnson said they are doing remediation right now and are going to have to remove all the sheetrock.
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“This was slated for renovation anyway, so essentially what they’re going to do is they’re going to go in and dry everything out, take out all the sheetrock, make sure there’s no mold,” Johnson said. “Almost take it to the studs, essentially, and then we’ll decide what our next steps are.”
Johnson added that it is covered by insurance, and even though a renovation is scheduled for SRP, the county didn’t want to leave the building as it was.
“If we had done that, we probably would’ve had to tear the whole thing down,” Johnson said. “Currently we don’t have enough funding to rebuild a new building, we only have enough for a renovation. We felt like this was the right way to go. They are in the process of taking it down to the studs.”
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Because of the damage, SRP is closed indefinitely. The road is blocked off leading to the Savannah Rapids and citizens are asked to not drive around the barrier.
