Celina City Council members approved a $59.05 million guaranteed maximum price for the Downtown Center project during a Feb. 11 meeting. Council members previously approved a $19.03 million maximum price in September, which covered the costs for the adjacent parking garage and site work.
"We're making good progress," Mayor Ryan Tubbs said.
The breakdown
The budget for the project as a whole is projected to be $96 million, which is a $2.7 million increase from September estimates due to technology infrastructure, according to a meeting presentation.
Roughly $1.9 million of the additional costs are from rejecting some offered value engineering savings options, including removing the atmospheric audio visual components in the library’s story time room and removing ground level shading and lighting sculptures, Assistant City Manager Kim Brawner said.
The city was able to approve other value engineering options, Brawner said. The final cost “is still a working budget” and the increases should not affect the city’s five-year capital improvement project plans, Brawner said.
Construction related to the parking garage has already begun on the site—city officials celebrated the project’s groundbreaking in October.
“We’ve got dirt, we’ve got our first ramp being poured now, so we’re very excited about that,” Brawner said.
The details
Once complete, the Downtown Center will feature five floors, two of which will be reserved for the city’s new public library.
As-is, the Celina Public Library is roughly 2,000 square feet. The space set aside in the Downtown Center will bring it to just under 20,000 square feet, Brawner said.
Features planned for the library include separate adult, teen and children’s spaces with interactive play areas for children, Brawner said.
Other features of the Downtown Center include:
- Rooftop community space
- Community meeting rooms
- Offices for city departments
Some of the employee spaces, including the break room and rooftop meeting room, will be available for residents to reserve and use outside of working hours, Brawner said.
The parking garage is four floors and will have approximately 400 spaces. It will offer standard parking spaces as well as oversize, motorcycle, bicycle and golf cart parking.
The city is including infrastructure to support the possibility of electric vehicle charging stations, according to meeting documents.
The garage will also have space for the city’s bookmobile storage and an off-site book drop.
What comes next
With the maximum price approved, the next steps for the city include:
- March 2025: Council approves an Arizona Drive construction contract
- October 2025: the parking garage finishes
- December 2025: city officials buy furniture for the new center
- November 2026: the downtown center opens
