Memorandum

City of Lawrence

Lawrence Parks and Recreation Department

TO:	David Corliss Cynthia Wagner Diane Stoddard Jonathan Douglas Bobbie Walthall
FROM:	Ernie Shaw
CC:	Craig Penzler Mark Hecker Tim Laurent
DATE:	March 21 , 2013
RE:	March 26 , 2013 Agenda Item

Please include the following item on the City Commission consent agenda for consideration at the March 26, 2013 meeting:

This request is to place the Rock Chalk Park Recreation Center Specification and Plans to be released to go out for competitive bid.

Project Description/History

There have been extensive discussions about Rock Chalk Park and the proposed City indoor recreation center. The process leading up to this point has changed over time but now focuses on a partnership between the City and Kansas Athletics to co-locate at a site north of 6th Street, off of George Williams Way near the northeast corner of the 6th Street and K-10 intersection.

The City will bid, with City Commission approval, the recreation center construction in accordance with its normal procedures.  The City will select the lowest responsible bid and will award a construction contract unless the bid is greater than $25 million. 

The recreation center will consist of 181,000 square feet, 8 full size basketball courts with striping for 16 half size basketball courts and 16 full size volleyball courts, indoor turf area to accommodate regulation indoor soccer and other sports, 1/8 mile 4-lane indoor walking/jogging track, gymnastics area, aerobic/fitness area, cardio/weights area, meeting rooms, administration offices and support areas, future wellness area.  

Project Details

Over the past two months the Quality Control Management (QCM) Team (Craig Penzler-CP/Sports LLC and Dan Foltz-KBS Constructors, Inc.) has met with the City, LPRD and the A/E Team on numerous occasions to participate in the advancement of the project and the bid documents. They have engaged a Mechanical Engineer and a Roof Consultant to provide a peer review of these critical systems and concentrated their efforts on the quality of the facility and the long term-life cycle performance of the critical materials and equipment.

During the past week we have participated with the QCM team in a document review of the bid documents and specifications. At this point, while the documents are not ready for bid release, we are making good progress toward an on schedule release. Pending City Commission approval the proposed dates are Bid Release on April 9, with a Public Bid Opening scheduled for May 7.

We will continue to meet with the QCM team and A/E team to assist their efforts in assuring the Bid Documents are complete and provide a clear understanding to the prospective bidders of the parameters and scope of the project.

Project Funding

A countywide sales tax was passed by the community in 1994. The City uses its share to fund, in part, parks and recreation facilities and programming. The City would use this sales tax and bond the project to fund the capital costs of the construction of the recreation facility and the infrastructure not to exceed $25M. 

Action Request

Lawrence Parks and Recreation staff requests approval from the City Commission to proceed with the Bid Documents Release on April 9, with a Public Bid Opening scheduled for May 7.