City Council Approves Community Recreation Center Design Contract

The city council’s approval of a $1.72 million design contract puts Phase 1 designs of the long-awaited Community Recreation Center into action.

The Community Recreation Center has been in the Parks Master Plan since 1996 and in the 2009 and 2011 Citizen Surveys the project was ranked as a top priority. The Community Recreation Center has now been put into action as two-phase project.

On Tuesday, August 6, 2013, City Council members voted unanimously to approve a contract with Barker Rinker Seacat Architecture which includes the complete cost of designing Phase 1 of the Community Center and the necessary schematic design-work for Phase 2. This schematic design-work will allow for enough design to easily segue into Phase 2 construction.

Phase 1, will include the senior activity areas, community wings and an outdoor amphitheater, and is to be paid for with funds that the city currently has on hand. During his presentation on Tuesday, Community Services Director, Chris Tribble, stated that the designs would begin immediately, with construction scheduled to begin August 2014 and to be completed in September 2015.

Design of Phase 2 is scheduled to begin in August of 2015, with an estimated cost of $1.78 million. Complete construction of Phase 2 has an estimated total cost of $35.6 million. This phase is planned to include a variety of amenities including: an indoor track, fitness areas with cardio and weight equipment, gymnasiums, group fitness rooms, children’s indoor playground, activity rooms, indoor aquatics, and more.

The funding for Phase 2 is dependent on Southlake voters’ approval for the reuse of the half-cent sales tax that funds the Crime Control and Prevention District in the May 2015 election.   Approval by voters would cause no increase in taxes, but would redirect the funds toward the construction of this project.

For more information about the Community Recreation Center, please visit  www.CityofSouthlake.com