SANTEE -– The nearly completed $5 million Santee Conference Center, located at the corner of Bass Drive and Bonner Avenue, was opened to the public on Wednesday for the first time.

Attired in hard hats, Mayor Silas Seabrooks, Santee Town Council members and a group of residents toured the center. Guiding the tour were Project Superintendent Bill Pickering of Construction Dynamics Inc., the general contracting and construction management firm which is building the center, and Pat Alford, division manager of CDI.

Seabrooks indicated his satisfaction with the progress on the center. “This project is expected to be completed by Christmas and will be available for reservations beginning Jan. 1, 2009,” he said.

The 17,752-square-foot center can accommodate 1,200 people and will be able to feed 600.

Santee Administrator Avery Frick said the town entered into a lease-purchase agreement for the conference center with BB&T, using the facility itself as collateral. Sen. John W. Matthews Jr. was also able to secure $200,000 for the center, Frick said.

U.S. Congressman Jim Clyburn had announced earlier this year that $1.5 million for the center would come from the Federal Emergency Management Agency since the facility was also to be used as an evacuation center/shelter. But that money fell through.

Clyburn spokesman Hope Derrick said Thursday that, as it turned out, the Santee Conference Center was not eligible for the FEMA money because the town started the building before the structure was approved by FEMA. Once the plans for the facility were submitted after construction had already begun, FEMA determined the design of the center didn’t meet wind-speed requirements for evacuation centers, she said.

“The town is supposed to come back to Congressman Clyburn with another funding request, but that hasn’t yet occurred,” Derrick said.

During Wednesday’s tour of the conference center, it was noted that the main banquet room can be partitioned into three rooms, if needed, and has built-in storage for tables and chairs. Two break-out rooms will also be available, and a professional kitchen is planned to provide on-site catering for conferences, meetings and social events.

Pickering said the curbing and sidewalks at the site have already been completed. “All the lights are wired in, and the power just has to be turned on,” he said. “We will be working on the asphalt, landscaping and pressure washing.”

The cupola framework was put in last week, Pickering said, and measurements for the glass have been taken. He said the cupola will be lit at night.

Pickering enumerated the work items still to be completed. “The roofs on the cupola and the gazebo have to be finished and the trim completed,” he said. “In addition, the main lobby and the upstairs offices are scheduled to be sheetrocked.”

Samples of the materials chosen for the project’s interior were viewed by tour participants.

“The color palette chosen for the center is very attractive and pleasing to the eye,” Santee resident and artist Ellen Peters said.

For more information about the conference center, call Santee Town Hall at 803-854-2152, or toll free, 866-272-6833.

-- T&D Staff Writer Phil Sarata contributed to this report. He can be reached by e-mail at psarata@timesanddemocrat.com or by phone at 803-533-5540. Discuss this and other stories online at TheTandD.com.

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