Northwest Arkansas Democrat-Gazette
Center updates get OK of panel
SPRINGDALE — Young players can now be cool without the cold and hot without the heat at the city’s new Recreation Center. The Springdale City Council working as a committee of a whole approved spending $900,320 for a new heating and and air conditioning equipment for the center. The full council will vote on the measure Nov. 26.
The council members also forwarded for the full council approval $367,266 for roof improvements needed for the climate system and $12,802 for equipment to clean the new turf the city installed for the center’s soccer fields.
Chosen through state purchasing contracts, Multi-Craft Contractors of Springdale will install 12 25ton air conditioning units.
The climate control system at the 120,000-squarefoot recreation center has not worked efficiently since the city bought the building for $4.1 million in December. Officials knew its condition and that replacement would be expensive.
“We’ve got $8 million invested in the recreation center, including the purchase price, in a facility that’s worth $20 (million) to $25 million,” Mayor Doug Sprouse said. “I don’t know how long it will take us to make all the renovations we want to make. We can’t do it all at once. But it was still a good purchase for the city.”
The city will make use of $300,000 from the Community Development Block Grant program through the federal department of Housing and Urban Development, explained Wyman Morgan, the city’s director of finance and administration. The recreation center improvements are eligible for the grant program because the recreation center is a public building, he said.
The council decided in May to use the grant money to update the recreation center’s bathrooms to comply with the Americans with Disabilities Act. But the timeline for that construction didn’t fit the city’s need
to spend the grant money before the end of the year or risk a lower appropriation in 2020, Sprouse said.
The city will pay for the remainder of the cost from the 2018 bond fund for parks. The city has spent $3.8 million for projects out 0f that fund, according to an Oct. 31 accounting provided by the city. The city also plans to build Shaw Family Park, currently under construction in northwest Springdale, and make $5 million in renovations at the Randal Tyson Sports Complex using the bond fund.
The October report also showed $16 million remains in the fund, but most of it is dedicated to projects.
Projects at the Recreation Center have included demolishing a loft-style walking track, new lights for the basketball court and indoor soccer fields, building a concrete slab and new turf and netting for the indoor soccer courts, said Chad Wolf, director of the city’s Parks and Recreation Department.
Remaining projects include building two multi-purpose sport courts and renovation of office and classroom. The council on Oct. 22 agreed to a contract with Commerce Construction Co. in Springdale as construction manager on the office project at a price of 6% of the total cost of construction.
Harness Roofing, which operates an office in Springdale, will install the new roof, also bid through a state purchasing contract.
P&K Equipment, also with an office in Springdale, will supply the turf-cleaning machine to the city.
Wolf said the piece will use ultraviolet light to kill germs left on the turf by players through sweat or blood. The city can use the piece, which operates like a push lawnmower, on any hard surface.