The renovation of the Von Braun Center’s Mark C. Smith Concert Hall is a little more expensive than city leaders originally thought.

The Huntsville City Council approved a $446,000 change order for the back of the house renovations on Thursday night. The change order pushed the total cost of the renovations to more than $16.5 million.

According to documents, the increase in the cost is due “unforeseen conditions.” Among the issues mentioned in the documents include sewer line corrections, plumbing and kitchen roof drains.

“They had a change in scope that was due to sewer and electrical changes that were unexpected in the construction when they were working on this,” City Finance Director Penny Smith said.

District 4 City Councilman Bill Kling asked if the funding for the change order would come out of the city liquor and lodging tax “instead of the city having to appropriate it.”

“It does, actually,” Smith responded. “The city manages the debt for the Von Braun Civic Center. This is part of the debt issuance that was actually taken up in February. It will be pulled into that debt. They’ve had some savings in some other places within that larger debt we pulled, about $30 million for various constructions across the VBC renovations.

The council approved upgrades to the concert hall last year to attract bigger theater performances. The upgrades included building an extension to the back of the concert hall and enlarging the VBC kitchen, according to the contract agreement between the city and Turner Construction Company.

The extension was needed, city officials said, because certain productions had significant props that could not go in the concert hall without the upgrades. The project also includes expanding the green room to make room for more actors, musicians and performers, as well as upgrades to the Playhouse and the Saturn Ballroom.

Other council action

• The council also approved an almost $625,000 agreement with Garver, LLC, to provide right-of-way acquisition services on 40 tracts of land for Winchester Road improvements between Naugher Road to Dominion Circle. The project is funded by the Metropolitan Planning Organization with 80% being federal funds and 20% being City funds in a total not-to-exceed contract amount of $45,186.28. According to the Alabama Department of Transportation report in March, the widening project is expected to start in Fiscal 2026 at a cost of $28 million.
• The council also approved a $116,399 agreement with Garver for design services for phase one of the Mooresville sanitary sewer interceptor project consisting of the installation of 4,200 feet of sanitary sewer line parallel to Piney Creek to serve residential development in the area.
• The council also approved a $28,750 contract with The Ferguson Group for grant writing services for the Resolute Way Interstate 565 interchange. Design is still in the works for the project, according to a District 5 report from Council President John Meredith. It would be a full access interchange at exit 13 (Madison Boulevard) that would improve safety and efficient travel to Redstone Arsenal, Cummings Research Park and Governors West. The estimated cost of the project is $60 million.