Too much glass increases AH center's cost

The planned Airway Heights Recreation Center has been going through some growing pains to say the least as the initial cost of the building was more than expected – about $3.7 million more.

Back in May 2017, ALSC and Lydig were the chosen designers for the building, over the other finalist, ORB Architects and Absher Construction. The group presented basic concepts of the recreation center and conducted interviews with the committee. They then displayed preliminary concepts at an open house where they took feedback from residents, staff and stakeholders.

But after being chosen, the design build was shown to be more than the parks and recreation department had expected after not giving much detail in the request for proposal (RFP) from the beginning.

The reason the building was going to be more expensive was due to how much glass was being used in the design.

“We want the recreation center to look nice so that people will come, but glass is the most expensive part,” J.C. Kennedy, the parks and recreation director said.

ALSC and Lydig advised Kennedy to take out certain parts of the project, including the aquatic center, to limit the costs, but Kennedy refused to do that.

“The aquatic center was one of the main things the city wanted,” Kennedy said. “I was not going to take that away from them. The decisions we make now decide how we operate later.”

So instead of taking out the aquatic center, the building now has less glass, reduced corners around the building and they also flipped the gym design.

“After changing it around, we actually increased the square footage of the building,” Kennedy added. “Now we just hurry up and wait.”

Most recently, the recreation center received help from the City Council as they approved $1 million from the Real Estate Excise Tax (REET) to be transferred to help cover costs of the construction.

The final plan for the facility is still in progress as Kennedy meets with the designers every week. If everything is going as it is right now, the guaranteed maximum cost will be provided by October and will break ground, starting construction by the end of the year. They are still on track to open by December 2018/January 2019.

“The main goal is to have an atmosphere for children and parents to come for years,” Kennedy said. “I want to deliver on everything the citizens voted on and keep the money local.”

Grace Pohl can be reached at grace@cheneyfreepress.com.