The Dunwoody City Council approved adding $60,000 to the budget for renovation to the Donald-Bannister Farm at its Sept. 26 meeting.
The Dunwoody Preservation Trust will pay $50,000 of that amount with the city covering the remaining $10,000.
City Parks & Recreation Director Brent Walker explained to the council that the original contract awarded to Diversified Construction of Georgia to build public bathroom facilities was for $225,600. But additional costs to the existing barn structure, including replacing the existing roof, bumped up the total needed to $285,600.
Walker said in a memo to the council that the additional repairs coupled with additional change orders requested by the Dunwoody Preservation Trust were reasons for the increased price tag.
“Theese additional costs will be paid through the $50,000 donation made by the Dunwoody Preservation Trust and $10,000 from the Donaldson Bannister Farm Site Improvement Capital Fund,” Walker stated.
Built in 1867, the Donald-Bannister Farm is the second oldest home in Dunwoody; since 2009, it has been listed on the National Register of Historic Places.
In 2014, the city began taking steps to repair and renovate the farm for public use. The City Council last year approved a $167,500 bid from Midwest Maintenance for installation of new supporting floor joists, support beams and rear wall replacement, based on a structural engineer’s report on the city-owned home.
Estimates to completely repair and renovate the farm property have come in at about $4 million to $5 million. In January, the Dunwoody Preservation Trust updated the City Council on the renovation project.
Former City Council member Danny Ross, and his wife, Queenie Ross, were instrumental in preserving the old house. The couple also tried unsuccessfully this year to save the theater at Brook Run Park.