The Emporia Recreation Center Steering Committee is now officially seeking an architect to handle the design of a new or updated Lee Beran Recreation Center.
During the committee’s most recent meeting Thursday afternoon, members finalized and approved a request for qualifications for that exact reason. Committee chair and Emporia City Commissioner Erren Harter says the RFQ will go out to all interested parties either Friday or Monday with hopes of having a recommendation ready for city commission approval by mid-June.
Speaking of interested parties, Harter tells KVOE News there are a handful that have already come forward and stated their desire to be involved with the project.
Thursday was the second meeting of the steering committee which was finalized earlier this month after several changes to its memorandum of understanding. Given this and other delays in the committee process in recent weeks, KVOE asked Harter if the committee is still on track to meet certain deadlines concerning the rec center project.
His response was, “yes and no.” He says plans for holding a special election regarding the funding mechanism for the project, a proposed half to full cent sales tax, will likely be pushed back.
Also as part of Thursday’s meeting, the committee discussed the possibility of hiring an independent facilitator, however, no decisions were made on that topic. Harter tells KVOE News a decision on bringing in an outside facilitator likely won’t be made until after an architect is selected.
Thursday’s meeting came a day after the Emporia City Commission convened for its regular study session, during which time commissioners gave City Manager Trey Cocking authority to approve any proposed changes or items of business from the committee without needing to bring it before commissioners ahead of time.
