Council unanimously approved a $455,285 contract with Parkhill, an engineering and design firm, Nov. 18 to design the project. The voting center and splash pad will be paid for using Capital Projects and Economic Development Corporation funds, according to city documents.
“[Parkhill has] considerable experience with municipal facilities, specifically a voting facility as well as various splash pads and playgrounds.” Public Works Director Lisa Escobedo said.
Zooming in
The existing voting center will be demolished and a new one will be built in its place. Preliminary plans for the new facility include a multipurpose room for voting and community events, a lobby, offices, a service kitchen, restrooms, storage and a space for ballot handling, according to city documents.
“As a demolition expert, [the current voting center] is not in really good shape,” Mayor Bobby Lindamood said. “We, as they say, put lipstick on a pig to make it work for now, and the time has come to take that down and then add the splash pad, new building for the kids to come and play and also make that a newer voting center.”
The new splash pad is intended to include a playground and restrooms, per city documents.
“Just for clarity, this was not part of the bond that we voted upon; this was already set in stone and we already had the budget for that back building,” Lindamood said.
Looking ahead
The design phase is expected to take eight months, bidding is expected to take two months and demolition and construction for the project is anticipated to take 14 months, according to the proposal submitted by Parkhill.
