The Jefferson City Parks and Recreation Commission continues to work toward a partnership with Lincoln University on a new multipurpose building, but further delays may cause issues with the university's stated goal of opening by fall 2016.
Last year, the commission authorized department staff to pursue a potential collaboration with LU on the proposed multipurpose building, now being called the community wellness and recreation center, where it would operate as both a multipurpose facility and a student recreational facility on Lafayette Street.
Between LU and the parks commission, $10.1 million is available for the collaborative project. Anticipating that would not be enough for a facility with four basketball courts and an elevated walking track, the City Council approved a $1.5 million line of credit in December, at the commission's request.
In July, commissioners approved shrinking the building's proposed footprint from 90,000 square feet to 79,000 square feet after cost estimates had risen above the available funds for the project. By trimming the overall square footage, the estimated cost of building the facility became between $11.4 million and $13.6 million, which still leaves a potential funding gap of up to $2 million.
LU President Kevin Rome said the project is on track and, as long as construction starts by October, they should be able to maintain a facility opening of fall 2016.
But Bill Lockwood, director of the Parks, Recreation and Forestry Department, said that is a bit of an optimistic timeline, though not completely out of the question.
The project has had some delays with getting it back under budget, which Lockwood noted still is not a completely-solved problem.
"We made some big strides toward that," Lockwood said. "It delayed it a little bit."
Lockwood said he hopes to have those issues resolved in the next week or two as architects and engineers continue to work, with the goal to have them begin construction drawings soon after the budget issues are resolved.
Commission President Denise Chapel said fall 2016 still is the goal, but the commission needs to take the time to ensure the project is done right and that may cause delays in the original timeline.
"We are doing everything we can do to stay within the budget," Chapel said. "This is exactly the right time to have these discussions."
Another aspect of the project is putting together an operating agreement, which Lockwood said the commission worked on in closed sessions and turned over to the university about two weeks ago. Rome said the university is very close to being ready to sign an operating agreement, or memorandum of understanding.
"We're at the final stages," Rome said. "We have our final, final draft, and so we are very close."
Chapel said taking extra time to ensure the partnership is viable is critical, in terms of both the design and the operating agreement.
"It's important to make sure the partnership will work," Chapel said. "And we're confident that it will."
Lockwood said he hopes to have the agreement ready to be finalized by the next Lincoln University Board of Curators meeting Sept. 10, though he's unsure if that target will be met.
"It is moving along," Lockwood said.
Reporter Bob Watson contributed to this story.