Dalton City Administrator Andrew Parker gave City Council members an update on plans for a major overhaul of the John Davis Recreation Center at a work session on Monday, Feb. 5.
“We’re reaching a milestone with getting that project under construction,” he said of the facility off Civic Drive.
Parker said an architect has completed plans for the estimated $12 million project, which are under review by permitting authorities.
“So the building inspector, the fire marshal, stormwater management and others,” he said.
The preliminary $12 million budget for the project includes the costs of a pool building, furniture, fixtures and equipment — as well as remaining engineering and architecture fees.
“This is somewhat more than what we allocated for in Special Purpose Local Option Sales Tax (SPLOST),” Parker said. “As we’ve seen in the last four years, that after the pandemic, costs have just appreciated due to material availabilities and workforce issues throughout the country and the world.”
Parker said the city government is addressing the residual shortfall in funding for the project by “reallocation of various funds from the 2021 bond issue as well as some of the excess collections from the SPLOST that have been experienced over the last three years.”
He noted that the local government will continue to receive 2020 SPLOST proceeds through September.
As part of the project, Parker said the on-site administrative building will be renovated.
“Everything south of that existing building will be a new facility structure and there will be mechanical storage built for all of the pool equipment on the north end of the building,” he said. “As well as a full-size basketball gym.”
The renovated facility will also include more “multi-use” space.
“For the public, local civic groups to rent out,” Parker said. “I think it will, in a very good way, complement what we have going on at the Mack Gaston Community Center — it never ceases to amaze me when you travel over there through the week and on the weekend, it is totally at capacity for the most part, particularly if there’s sporting events and/or community meetings ongoing.”
On the south end of the site, Parker said there is a playground area that could be relocated.
“There’s also been a request to look at, potentially, a multi-use space that we would have kind of indoor recreation opportunities,” he said. “Something similar, maybe, to the Discovery Center on a smaller scale, to continue our partnership with Dalton Public Schools for summer camps and things like that.”
The construction timeline for the project is pegged from spring of this year to around fall 2025.
“This was a unique procurement method that we used called ‘construction manager at risk,’ which basically means that we hire a general contractor and then they competitively source the components of work,” Parker said. “This is the first time that the city has used this procurement method … so it will be their responsibility to secure competitive proposals for the various components of work, like framing, foundations, plumbing, electrical, HVAC.”
Parker said “competitive proposals” for construction are expected next month, with the council and contractor slated to agree on a guaranteed maximum price amendment in April.
“Which basically puts the responsibility on the contractor to construct for that final price,” he said. “It will be somewhere in the neighborhood of that, it could be slightly less.”