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Workers find two fuel oil tanks while excavating behind Partnership Center
Renovations behind the Greencastle Partnership Center were complicated slightly late this week by the discovery of two buried fuel oil tanks.
Workers from 3-D Professional Contractors found the tanks while performing excavation work on Thursday.
Officials from the Putnam County Community Foundation, which owns the former Greencastle Federal Savings and Loan building at 2 S. Jackson St., say they knew at least one tank was buried in the location, but were unaware of the second tank or the size of the tanks involved.
"We thought there was something buried there, but we didn't know it was that big," Community Foundation Executive Director Elaine Peck said.
Fuel oil actually remained in one of the two tanks, meaning it had to be evacuated to undergo testing.
While the tanks may have been an inconvenience, they did not cause too much of a delay and were removed on Friday afternoon.
The work behind the Partnership Center, which houses the Community Foundation as well as the United Way of Putnam County and the Greencastle-Putnam County Economic Development Center, is intended to make the building's lower-level conference room handicap accessible.
The ramp behind the building, which had previously been used for parking, has been removed and will be replaced by a courtyard area that will be level with the basement.
A door leading from the courtyard into the conference room will allow access to the room without the use of the interior stairway.
Peck told the Banner Graphic plans for the courtyard include flowers on the tops of the walls overlooking the area and a decorative concrete floor.
Former Foundation board president Murray Pride is overseeing the project. He said it is the final step in a process several years in the making.
When the process started, the most glaring problem the Foundation faced was the deterioration of the alley south of the building.
"We affectionately called it 'the dungeon,'" Pride said.
Not only was the alley an eyesore, it was affecting the structural integrity of the building. Pride said a decision had to be made to fix the building or find a new location.
"The Community Foundation wanted to find a way to stay downtown and support the community," Pride said.
One of the Foundation's services to the community, Peck said, is providing low-cost space for other non-profit organizations. Finding new locations could have been a hardship for the other agencies in the Partnership Center.
Even when bids on the work came in higher than expected, the board stayed the course and found the money for the project.
The alley area has been completed, ensuring the structural integrity of the building and leading to the final phase of the process.
With the tanks now cleared, excavation and construction can proceed in the courtyard.
Pride said the Foundation has also reached an agreement with Metronet to use its parking area to the west of the building and courtyard upon completion of the project.
This should provide easy access from the parking lot to the conference room, by way of the courtyard.
"We hope to be able to better utilize the conference area," Pride said.
While the removal of the tanks may have been a hiccup in the process, it was not entirely unexpected. Crews had done some drilling that revealed something was buried in the area.
"We decided if, in fact, we found something in the area, we would do what was necessary to get it taken care of," Pride said. "We hope we don't run into any more difficulties."
With the tanks now removed, the work should be on track for a mid-summer completion date.