City officials have learned what it’s like to renovate a 100+ year old building, and the unwanted surprises that come with it. On Tuesday night, the City Council approved a $373,000 budget transfer to cover the cost of unexpected additional repairs, as well as to insulate the Parker Annex.
The former elementary school on Watertown Street opened in 1914, and was sold by the Town in 1986. In 2022, the now City of Watertown bought back the building, which has been turned into office space.
Since then, the City has been planning to turn Parker in to a City Hall annex, and hired contractors to renovate the building. As ceilings and floors have been removed, some surprises were exposed, said City Manager George Proakis…