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Farmers Branch schedules phased reopening of Branch Connection with May 12 soft opening
Summary
City staff told the Senior Advisory Board the Branch Connection will begin limited operations May 12, with a larger public opening tentatively set for June 10; staff described remaining contractor work, a generator connection and promotional plans including a mayor’s town hall on May 29.
Farmers Branch city staff told the Senior Advisory Board on March 13 that the Branch Connection is scheduled to begin limited operations on Monday, May 12, with a larger public opening tentatively planned for June 10.
The update matters to seniors and regular Branch Connection users because the facility has been closed for renovations and many programs and services have been run offsite in the meantime. Reopening will restore meeting rooms, fitness equipment and the facility kitchen to local programming and senior services.
Robert, a city staff member, told the board, "we're looking to try to get the doors open for rare operations on May 12." He said the contractor and city had a weekly check-in earlier that day and that "things are going pretty smooth. We're on target." Robert added that staff plan to move into offices a couple of weeks before the May 12 date to stock supplies and acclimate.
City staff described remaining tasks that could affect the schedule. Robert said the contractor hopes to be finished by April but that the city built in a "little bit of fudge room" in case of minor overruns. He said the contractor will likely keep one or two people available after substantial completion to respond to issues that arise as the building comes back into use. He also noted a planned temporary power-down to connect a large standby generator behind the building.
The mayor has requested a town hall at the Branch Connection on Thursday, May 29, with an evening start time "like a 06:00, 06:30," Robert said. Staff intend to coordinate promotions with Jessica, a city staff member in communications: "Jessica and her her team will kind of start working with Jackie to kind of push out the information," Robert said, adding that the board and council were being told the date before wide promotion.
Board members discussed operating hours briefly. Staff gave the May 12 opening day start time as 8:00 a.m., but daily hours were not fully clarified during the meeting; participants referenced the building's usual programming schedule and the possibility that some evening activities would extend into the later hours.
Robert listed other finishing work, including landscaping, painting of fire lanes and interior set-up of fitness equipment and furniture. He said the contractor is prepared to respond if issues arise once the building is in regular use: "they will still be probably a lot of times these contracts, you'll spend the contractor will still maintain 1 or 2 people just to kinda be available when stuff comes up." He also said staff expect to use the ballroom for the mayor’s town hall and to coordinate with the city secretary’s office on promotions.
No formal board vote was recorded to set the May 12 date during the meeting; the board received the update and staff indicated they would follow up with promotional details and logistics.
If the schedule holds, the phased approach will allow staff and contractors to address operational kinks before a larger public celebration and will let senior programs that have been meeting offsite return to the renovated facility.
