The New Recreation Center Steering Committee has named its finalists for the architect and construction manager at risk (CMAR) for a potentially renovated or brand-new rec center.
The architect finalists include:
*BG Consultants of Emporia and Kahler Slater of Milwaukee, Wisconsin
*Multistudio of Lawrence
*Perkins & Will of Kansas City, Missouri
*Schaefer Architecture Wichita
Meanwhile, the CMAR finalists are
*McCown Gordon Construction of Manhattan
*Hutton Corporation of Wichita, KS
A total of 13 firms, nine architects and four CMARs, submitted RFPs for the project. Committee member Deon Morrow says they were pleased to have a large number of applicants to choose from as more options mean a better chance to give the community exactly what it deserves.
The selection of finalists is a milestone for the Steering Committee which has been working at a fast pace since its formation and saw some notable setbacks, namely due to several revisions of the committee’s MOU. Despite said setbacks, Morrow tells KVOE News he believes they are right where they need to be timeline-wise.
Finalist interviews will take place June 13 with a decision possibly coming later that day, but no later than June 14.
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.
