OBSERVER Photo by Jo Ward The Chautauqua Center will be building a new facility at Third Street and Park Avenue.

The Chautauqua Center is hoping to break ground soon on the new facility that will be located at Third Street and Park Avenue in the city of Dunkirk. The project recently priced at around $4 million is now looking to cost closer to $6 million due to the lack of supplies available in the general market at this time.

“The pandemic really raised the cost of wood,” Chautauqua Center Director Mike Pease told the OBSERVER. “Everyone is vying for the same small supply available. A lot of companies have shut down or can’t put out the supply they normally do due to the virus and it’s just making things more costly.”

In addition to the limited quantities of supplies the organization also ran into a bit of a hiccup when underground power lines were discovered on the property.

“The city has been really helpful as well as the architect and the contractor with getting us in touch with the power companies and getting those moved,” Pease said. “I imagine it can’t be easy moving underground power lines and then there’s the addition of concrete now to get the base ready.”

To help secure the additional $2 million it’s costing to build the facility, the organization is looking into new market tax credits which will incur the equity they need.

“We have $500,000 going into the construction from existing programs within the organization,” Pease added. “We’re getting the money together and we hope to begin construction soon. We still anticipate a July to August 2021 opening.”