Community

PenMet Parks board approves $31.6 million for community recreation center

The Peninsula Metropolitan Parks District approved a $31.6 million outlay Tuesday night to construct a community recreation center on the former Performance Golf Center site.

Two weeks earlier, the parks board had passed a 2022 capital budget in which $23.7 million of the $33.1 million total is devoted to the center at 2416 14th Avenue NW. Remaining building costs will be funded in 2023.

PenMet bought the former Performance Golf Center building and the 17 acres on which it sits for $4.3 million in 2019. Ed Friedrich / Gig Harbor Now

Also Tuesday, the commissioners voted to change the project delivery method from the construction manager/general contractor alternative contracting procedure to the more traditional and common design/bid/build model as more beneficial.

In CM/GC, the project owner hires a contractor to provide feedback during the design phase before the start of construction, allowing the contractor to work with the designer and the project owner to identify risks, provide cost projections and refine the project schedule. In the D/B/B method, the owner contracts separately with a designer/architect and a contractor. Once the design is completed, the owner seeks bids from contractors to perform the work. Because there is competition, it often results in lower construction costs.

“The team felt it was in the best interest of the project,” PenMet Executive Director Ally Bujacich said of the switch. “They evaluated different delivery methods and found that design/bid/build was the most cost-effective and therefore provided the greatest public benefit.

“That’s a big milestone for the project. The design team has the direction it needs to proceed, and we see the project budget which had not been formally done.”

Escalating costs and availability of labor and materials as a result of the pandemic threaten to increase the recreation center’s cost and delay its opening. However, the $31.6 million adopted Tuesday is not significantly higher than the $30 million targeted amount the board adopted in January based on a feasibility study.

PenMet will move its offices from its Wollochet Drive location into the new building next summer. Ed Friedrich / Gig Harbor Now

“That is something the project team is obviously aware of and it’s finding ways to mitigate it to the best of its abilities, but there are factors outside of our control,” Bujacich said. “The team has done a lot of work over the last many months in order to vet this project, turn over every rock, go down every pathway to ensure all recommendations are in the best interests of the district and community.”

“I believe the level of detail and scrutiny the past year to keep the project within budget and moving forward has been incredible,” said commissioner Steve Nixon. “They literally went back to the drawing board and came up with solutions.”

The first phase will be to renovate the existing building, which is expected to be completed next summer. The administration will move there from its current headquarters at 5717 Wollochet Drive NW. The district purchased the 17-acre site for $4.3 million in 2019.

The second phase will be a 58,300-square-foot building containing an indoor turfed soccer/football field, three multipurpose gymnasium courts, an elevated walking/jogging track and spaces for community gathering that were discerned as public priorities. The construction timetable hasn’t been established.

A new indoor recreation facility will be built behind the existing building. Ed Friedrich / Gig Harbor Now

The building’s steel frame, roof and side panels will be designed and engineered off-site, then reassembled here, which will allow it to be erected in about half the time. Then it can be adorned with brick, stone or wood.

The $31.6 million total project cost includes $24.3 million for construction, $1.9 million for sales taxes, $4.3 million in architecture, engineering, consultant and permit fees, and $1.1 million for contingency.

PenMet’s second most costly capital project next year will be a $1.5 million renovation of Rosedale Hall. Design hasn’t begun, but the intention is to maintain the use and character of the historic building while addressing deferred maintenance and making improvements, Bujacich said.

The district will spend $181,000 to finish renovating the historic Arletta Schoolhouse at Hales Passage Park, including cleaning, painting, replacing asbestos-contaminated flooring, re-roofing, electrical and landscaping.

It will allocate $160,000 to replacing the synthetic turf on the soccer/football field at Sehmel Homestead Park, which was installed in 2009 and is used year-round, and will spend $105,000 on a feasibility study about using its Peninsula Gardens or another property for a community aquatic center.

PenMet 2022 Capital Budget Projects

Community Recreation Center $23,650,116
Rosedale Hall Renovation $1,517,000
DeMolay Sandspit demolish damaged structures, replace with picnic shelter if feasible $245,000
Hales Pass Arletta Schoolhouse renovation $180,523
Sehmel Homestead Park playground resurfacing $163,000
Peninsula Gardens community aquatic center feasibility study $105,000
District key and access control plan $83,000
District signage and wayfinding master plan design $75,000
District unidentified life safety or deferred maintenance issues $50,000
Peninsula Gardens deferred maintenance $36,000
Harbor Family improve parking area $29,000
Narrows Beach demolish damaged mobile home $24,000
Peninsula Gardens demolish damaged outbuildings and house $23,000
Sunrise Beach demolish deteriorating structure $17,000
Narrows West acquisition costs $8,000

Total 2022 capital budget $33,147,917