Contract negotiations will be the next step in the process for the potential expansion of the Lee Beran Recreation Center or the construction of a brand new facility.
Following a day full of meetings with architect and construction manager at-risk candidates Thursday, the Emporia Recreation Center Steering Committee selected the agencies they hope to handle the project. For the architect position, the committee selected BG Consultants of Emporia and Kahler Slater of Milwaukee, Wisconsin.
For CMAR the committee selected Hutton Corporation of Wichita. Committee Vice-Chair Deon Morrow says all parties involved have a history with the Emporia community and carry a clear passion for improving it which set them apart from other candidates.
Emporia City Manager Trey Cocking is now set to move forward with contract negotiations with the selected agencies. A timeline for that process is currently pending.
Once the contracts are finalized, Morrow says the citizens of Emporia will play the next vital role as the aforementioned agencies and the Emporia Recreation Commission will begin reaching out to the community to gauge wants and needs for a new or expanded facility.
The need for a new or updated rec center has been well publicized in recent years with the Emporia Rec Commission saying the current rec center has less than half the space available to meet the area’s current and future recreation needs.
