The Emporia Recreation Commission’s Steering Committee has taken the latest step in securing designers and builders for a new or expanded rec center facility.
During their latest meetings Tuesday morning and afternoon, members sat down with various architecture and construction firms for a pair of pre-submission conferences. The conferences come after the committee sent out Requests for Qualifications last month and allowed committee members to address any questions or concerns those firms may have about the rec center project.
Committee member Erren Harter says having the face-to-face opportunity was not only a step for efficiency, but it also allowed the committee to get a better sense of what each firm could bring to the table aside from just their resumes.
At the start of the RFQ process, Harter had noted there were at least seven to eight firms interested in the project. Tuesday, more than 20 firms appeared before the committee for the conferences.
No firms, either architecture or construction, have been selected for the rec center project as of yet. Harter says the next step will be for all interested parties to submit any additional questions to the committee for review by next Tuesday.
Once those questions have been answered, interested firms will have until April 29 to submit their RFQs with the committee holding finalist interviews the week of June 10. Tentative plans are to have firms selected by June 14.
