Klamath County weighs demolition, rebuild for former bowling-alley Hub project

Klamath County commissioners on Aug. 6 reviewed fresh bids and technical findings for the Klamath Hub project and discussed whether to repair and retrofit the existing former Hand Scams bowling alley or to demolish it and build new.

Consultant Kelsey Randall told the Board of Commissioners that the county received abatement-and-demolition bids the prior day in response to an ITB that asked contractors for two price schemes: “select demolition” (partial) and total demolition. Randall said a full code review found the change of occupancy would trigger current seismic upgrades and require fire suppression across roughly 22,000 square feet — making a full sprinkler system considerably more cost effective than sprinkling only two tenant areas.

The consultant presented a side-by-side summary that compared estimated costs, timelines and design constraints for renovating the existing structure versus building new. Randall said demolition costs in the packet reflect the recent bids, while other numbers remain estimates and could be tightened with further study at an additional cost. “You could spend another $100,000 getting more accurate estimates,” she told the commissioners, “but I just don't know that that is something that is good stewardship when maybe we do have good enough estimates.”

Commissioners discussed the trade-offs. Commissioner Minty said full demolition would be a “definite pivot” and that the board needed time to “digest this, mull it over” before deciding whether to hold the site as an empty lot, use it temporarily as parking, or proceed toward new construction. Minty suggested bringing in a real estate agent to assess current market value for the property with and without the existing structure.

Other commissioners and staff emphasized the project partners and program goals driving the original vision — a mixed-use facility that would house OSU Extension, a local food hub (Klamath Hub/Klamath Grown), and an events center with a rentable commercial kitchen and outdoor space. One commissioner noted partners have access to separate funding streams and that the building’s program (for growers, cold storage and local-food distribution) remains an important community goal.

Staff and the consultant said the renovation option would carry constraints tied to the existing structure (seismic retrofit and partial or full sprinkler installation) that can lengthen construction schedules and increase cost uncertainty; new construction would allow more design flexibility and possibly phasing options to match tenant funding timelines. Randall also proposed a temporary reuse if the county chose full demolition: using the cleared site for fairground parking with signage indicating the “future home of the hub” while fundraising continues.

No formal motion or vote was recorded during the work session. Commissioners requested follow-up: asking staff to invite a county real estate agent for a side-by-side market-value comparison and to schedule presentations from key partners (OSU Extension and Klamath Grown/Klamath Hub) on their fundraising capacity and timelines. Randall offered to provide the full code report and the detailed ITB documents to commissioners on request.

The county purchased the property in February 2022 and produced a preliminary schematic in 2023 envisioning a multi-tenant community hub. Commissioners said they intend to forward the material to the finance meeting for further discussion and to gather additional data before making a decision.

The discussion closed with an instruction to collect additional information — market valuation, partner funding updates and more precise cost estimates — to return to the board for a future decision.