This is the latest design concept for a new community center to be attached to the west wing of the Cook County Schools complex. It proposes incorporating 20,000 square feet of existing space and adding 12,000 square feet of new space for a total of 32,000 square feet. The public will be given opportunities for input as the project moves along, and final decisions will need to be made by the county board.
The Tofte Township Board labored on May 10 to cut numerous much-hoped-for improvements to its Birch Grove Community Center project, with new cost estimates coming in more than $300,000 over the $700,000 the county board granted from its 1 percent infrastructure and recreation sales tax. That didn’t stop them from asking for an increase in the county’s allocation at the May 15 county board meeting, however, as recommended by consultant Rob Barse of ORB Management and County Commissioner Bruce Martinson. Their efforts were rewarded.
ORB President Tom Wacholz and Tofte Supervisor Alan “D.C.” Olsen told the county board that a picnic shelter, relocation of an enclosed timber frame classroom in the woods a couple of blocks from the community center, and paving for ADA compliance had not been included in the original project scope. Olsen said by the time students could snowshoe to the “outdoor classroom,” they didn’t have enough time for class to make the trip worthwhile. The project also includes a warming house with restrooms, a picnic area, a rehabbed tennis court and a new hockey rink. A kitchen renovation in the community center has already been completed.
Cuts the Tofte board discussed included eliminating a covered picnic pavilion attached to the warming house, building the warming house on a floating slab instead of on foundation walls with footings (which could eventually result in cracks in the building and windows that don’t open and close, according to Doug Garin of ORB, managing the project with Rob Barse), installing LP heating units instead of in-floor heat in the warming house, eliminating brick wainscoting on the exterior and decorative block on the interior, leaving the underground water storage tank where it is (thus requiring a tanker to flood the ice rink), reducing 100 AMP service to 50 AMPs, and using wood dasher boards around the skating rink instead of maintenance-free fiberglass. They also discussed not having power to the warming house. “That’s like having a bathroom without a toilet,” said Supervisor Jim King.
One of the Tofte board’s concerns was how much the township would have to pay for redesigning the architectural plans if it made the reductions it was discussing. The supervisors discussed their reluctance to eliminate the canopy over the picnic area because it was integral to the look of the warming house. “I don’t want just a square building that looks like an Econo Garage,” said Jim King. “We need a little pizzazz with it.”
“I see nothing wrong with asking for $250,000,” Commissioner Martinson told the township board on May 10. He recommended that they not decide on reductions to the project at that meeting. “Let the board of commissioners decide about cutting it,” he said.
At the county board meeting, Olsen addressed some of the cuts the Tofte board had discussed, saying they did not like the thought of having no roof over the picnic area, but keeping the roof in the design might require a full foundation. The township has wanted to make improvements that were as maintenance-free as possible, he said, and using wood dasher boards would require repeated painting. “What we save now we’ll pay for later,” he said.
Wacholz said they believe their estimate of $250,000 for the warming house shell was high, but in April, ORB Vice President Kim Barse and project Architect Tim Meyer of the Meyer Group had indicated they thought bids might come in lower than projected. Meyer had said his company was getting a lot of calls in Duluth from contractors looking for work. At the May 10 meeting, however, Rob Barse, via phone conference, said bids for warming house elements for things like electrical and plumbing installation – from Cook County contractors – had come in significantly higher than projected. “The local contractors bid very high,” Olsen said.
One citizen at the township meeting questioned why professionals would have been so off in their cost estimates, saying that the township board might have asked the county board for a lot more money from the 1 percent tax if they had had more accurate cost estimates to begin with.
Olsen and Wacholz asked the county board for an extra $250,000, but Commissioner Sue Hakes said she thought they should keep 100 AMP service and fiberglass dasher boards in the design. She made a motion, seconded by Bruce Martinson, to grant an extra $270,000 for the project. It passed unanimously, with Commissioner Jim Johnson absent.
The Tofte board may still need to look at making some cuts to the proposed design but as discussed at its May 10 meeting will try to keep the design elements they believe are most important. What would they need to keep in and what could they take out to keep the project as close to what they had envisioned?” Tofte Supervisor Paul James asked. “Let’s try to keep the project alive,” he said.
Cook County community center project
The initial design for a new community center added to the west wing of the Cook County Schools complex makes “very good use of existing space,” Tom Wacholz told the county board on May 15. The multipurpose gym would have “pretty much the same” footprint as the existing Community Ed gym (the “old gym” at Cook County High School), he said, although it incorporates the bleachers that are there now and the other area where bleachers used to be. The initial design also includes a pool, hot tub, and sauna, a fitness center, a walking track, multipurpose meeting space, a child watch area, a concession booth, locker rooms, restrooms, an administrative area, and storage space.
The new design totals 32,000 square feet, incorporating 20,000 square feet of existing building and creating 12,000 square feet of new space.
School Superintendent Beth Schwarz said the current home economics area, to be evacuated now that the Consumer & Family Science program is ending, could be used by both the community center and the school. The current teacher’s lounge and two locker rooms near it (down the small hallway facing the Jane Mianowski Conference Room) could also be used without any major renovations.
“…We’re at a very conceptual stage,” Wacholz said. The design, including improvements to outdoor sports amenities on county land adjacent to the school, is estimated to cost up to $9,500,000 – half a million dollars over the amount of 1 percent tax revenue allocated by the county board. “It’s conservative,” said Wacholz. “We’re conservative on purpose.” It is based on 2012 construction cost projections and includes any demolition and connection to the existing school facility. It also includes the creation of additional parking spaces.
An architectural team comprised of the Meyer Group and JLG Architects created the initial design drawings. The Meyer Group now has a smaller staff than it did previously so JLG will take the lead on the next steps.
The county board unanimously voted to raise the cap on the project to $9,500,000.
The Community Center Steering Committee will meet again from 8:30 a.m. to noon on Wednesday, May 23 at the Jane Mianowski Conference Center. The committee will be required to get the county board’s approval at each step in the process as plans are developed and the work is begun. They will also be seeking public input along the way.
Some community members continue to speak out against the proposed community center. Garry Gamble took advantage of the public comment period at the May 15 county board meeting, saying that one set of estimates on refurbishing the Grand Marais
Municipal Pool (instead of demolishing it and putting a new one in the proposed community center) that had been gathered by a group of citizens came in at under half a million dollars – “ironically, the amount spent to date on consultants and openended wishful thinking.”
Gamble asked commissioners if they had discussed the request the Citizens for Cook County Committee made on April 24 for a study on how much use a new community center would get. Commissioner Sobanja said this was a public comment period, not an opportunity for discussion with the county board, and recommended to his fellow commissioners that they not answer Gamble’s question. They followed his recommendation and did not answer Gamble.
What’s left
County Auditor-Treasurer Braidy Powers told commissioners that of the $20,000,000 in capital projects that can be funded by the 1 percent tax, $940,000 is still undesignated. Money has been allocated for all of the projects specifically named in the legislation that authorized the tax except for a biomass heating facility. Requests have also been made for an addition to the Cook County Historical Society and for mountain bike trails at Pincushion Mountain.
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