Loudon center moves forward

Loudon City Council discussed in a recent workshop the beginning steps needed to design and build a $7 million community center.

Council heard last month from the city's Recreational Advisory Committee about the need for such a facility. The project has been discussed for 25 years, Bud Guider, committee member, said.

Council agreed to begin work on the project at the next monthly meeting, Guider said.

During budget discussions earlier in the workshop, Mark Harrell, director of the parks and recreation department, discussed the need for an estimated $150,000 for design and planning of the 22,000-square-foot facility.

Councilwoman Tammi Bivens said she was concerned funding for design appeared to be coming from the parks and recreation facilities and maintenance fund.

City Manager Ty Ross explained the money for designing and building the center would come from a separate fund dedicated to the project.

Ross told council the process for construction would be like building a school and involves three major steps.

The first step is preliminary design to fit programming, which determines functional needs of the building. The second step is the full design package, including detailed blueprints to be bid to the general contractor. The second phase is roughly 5% of the total project cost.

“It is vital to go through the first steps to pin down what we want to build so we can assign a projected cost to it,” Ross said.

The third step is bidding the project and approving a contract.

“All together this a two- to three-year process before ribbon cutting,” Ross said.

Council also heard from Charles Grant, an architect with Michael Brady Inc., of Knoxville. Grant explained how he would work through early stages of the project, including programming and design.

Grant said he would host a series of visioning sessions with programming participants — such as members of the RAC and community leaders — to identify, discuss and prioritize values and goals that will impact the facility.

Ross provided council a detailed written analysis with the steps that must be taken to get to the construction stage. As each stage is completed, council will review and approve the process to assure project goals are being met.

The architect will provide a written evaluation of the project to confirm and finalize the priorities, values and goals. The architect will also identify required spaces, establishing sizes and relationships and documenting space requirements such as special HVAC, plumbing, power, lighting, acoustical, furnishings, equipment and security needs.

A final program document will incorporate written and graphic materials, including an executive summary and documentation of the methodology used to develop the overall project.

The description of the process seemed redundant to Guider. He said over the years the RAC had completed much of the planning and programming work outlined by Ross.

“Our committee has worked diligently on phase one,” he said.

Guider said he was concerned that other than $150,000 in funding for design discussed in relation to the city budget, there was no scheduled action item to fund the $7 million estimated total cost. He thought the length of the process would increase costs.

“If we wait two more years that $7 million will become $9 million,” he said.

Grant said he was ready to begin the programming meetings within weeks. Construction documents could take up to three months. The construction process would take 14-16 months depending on materials availability. He said, as an example, lead times on electrical equipment and HVAC were one year.