The City of Auburn will open bids on the proposed Auburn Community Center and gymnasium at Les Gove Park at 3 p.m. April 16 in the Council Chambers at Auburn City Hall.
Bids won’t come in until next Thursday, and they will remain sealed until 3 p.m. when the City Clerk opens them.
“Nothing happens on that day but the reading of the bid amount” said Daryl Faber, director of Auburn Parks, Arts and Recreation. “The Community Center Committee will review those and work with the Council on a recommendation of what projects get completed.”
Given the state of the economy it is possible that both buildings, or neither, will be built, said Auburn City Councilman Rich Wagner, chairman of the Community Center Committee.
“Depending on the bids, there’s only a slim chance that we will continue with the gymnasium, although we hear that an $800,000 grant from the state for the gymnasium is still alive in Olympia,” Wagner said. “It is a nice sign that the state recognizes the importance of that particular facility. That grant application went in conjunction with the Boys and Girls Club, which would lease the Parks, Arts and Recreation building.”
BLRB Architects, which has been working with the city since January of 2008, has proposed the following:
• A one-story, 20,000-square-foot community center to the north of where the old YMCA building once stood. It will include an 8,000-square-foot gathering place for as many as 450 people that will look out on the park, equipped with sliding doors that open on a patio, a lobby area, an administration area, two classrooms and a warming kitchen. Plans call for a friendship storage room where ethnic groups will store material for programs they may have in the center. The parking lot could accommodate 128 cars.
• Reconfiguration of the Parks, Arts and Recreation administration building for lease by the Boys and Girls Club.
• A 10,000-square-foot gymnasium to the west of the youth and teen center, connected to it by a covered walkway. It could be used during the day by senior volleyball and fitness programs and by after-school programs. In the evening, everybody would be able to use it. This part of the project is expected to be built later because of costs.
Wagner said the economic downturn has had an impact.
“There’s a possibility, although I hope it doesn’t happen, that the council will decide not to proceed,” Wagner said. “We have had to take on two huge projects that five years ago we didn’t realize we would have to take on. One is the jail at $29 million, and the other is the City Hall Annex. That’s almost $60 million worth of stuff. I’m almost certain that the gym and the building of the recreation center will be delayed.”
