SALISBURY — During its Oct. 3 meeting, the Salisbury City Council approved contracts with two companies in order to install a new, single story roof on the east wing of Hall Gym, which will act as the first step in revitalizing the gym.

“We want to make sure we have a good roof before we do any interior changes inside that building,” Public Works Director Chris Tester said.

The existing 3,182-square-foot roof is over 20 years old and has exceeded its life expectancy, according to Tester. Public Works sent out a request for proposal for replacing it and received four bids, with GMG Roofing bidding the lowest at $43,012. Salisbury will additionally be purchasing $26,003 worth of materials for the project from Garland/DBS, Inc. The total cost is $69,015 and is already included in the fiscal year’s budget. City Manager Jim Greene mentioned that Salisbury has gone ahead with other roof projects so far this year and that it be a challenging process.

“Roof replacement is very expensive. There’s not a whole lot of contractors out there,” City Manager Jim Greene said. “I appreciate the work Public Works has done to look at a different opportunity here to get this roof replaced at the lowest possible cost.”

Tester said the city typically is given a five-year material warranty along with a one-year installation warranty for these kind of deals. Due to the “co-op” Salisbury is applying for this undertaking, they will now have a 15-year material warranty. Tester estimates the materials should take about a month to arrive and the actual installation has a five-week window to completion, but he believes it will not take that long.

“We’re shooting to try and get it in before basketball season gets into full swing,” Tester said.