Missouri City renovates busy Community Center
After almost 30 years of hosting wedding receptions, community functions and city events, Missouri City’s community center is set to get a much-needed face-lift.
Nestled in the city hall plaza across from the library, the twostory building has seen its share of celebrations and gatherings. The city decided on a two-phase plan to renovate the first floor and the exterior, planning to turn the outside into a garden courtyard with lights, pergola and a playground.
Renovation of the first floor is scheduled to take place in the coming months and be finished by Jan. 30, Assistant City Manager Scott Elmer said.
The $269,000 first phase will turn the 12,000-square-foot first floor into a flexible space suitable for wedding receptions, family reunions, city functions and business events. The total cost budgeted for both phases is $494,000. The second phase, which will focus on the exterior, will be constructed and paid for in the city’s next fiscal year.
The center’s drop ceiling will
be replaced with groupings of pendant lights, and its vinyl-tile floor will give way to stained concrete. The check-in desk will be removed, and a conference room put in place for business meetings. The overall plan is to make the space brighter, lighter and more open.
The project has been bid out to local architectural firm Studio M6 and Regas Contracting, a Staffordbased construction company.
“We’re trying to modernize the look. The area has seen a lot of use,” Elmer said.
In fiscal year 2015, the center was reserved for 1,186 hours, of which 528 were for paid private reservations generating $31,602 in revenue for the city, said Cory Stottlemyer, media relations specialist for Missouri City.
The building was built in 1986 and hasn’t received an extensive overhaul. The second floor will stay the same until its future function is decided, Elmer said. The city will be coming up with a 20-year master plan for all city facilities this year; so the decision about the second floor may be made then.
Originally, the second floor of the center functioned as a recreation center with a basketball court, weight room and cardio room.
The second phase will likely start next summer.
It will add a park-like atmosphere to the city, Elmer said.
“I think it’s going to add a ‘wow’ to the facility,” he said. “It really ties the outside and the inside together. It really makes the outside an extension of the space available.”
The walled garden with its trellis and pergolas and benches will bring the functionality of the building into a community space, said architect Scott Maddux with Studio M6.
“It’s a perfect little spot. We’ll really have to educate people that it’s there,” Maddux said. “It’s hopefully going to be a great place, a beautiful place.”