Preliminary designs, budgets presented for Henrietta B. Foster Center and Clara Luper Civil Rights Center

City staff and MAPS consultants presented preliminary designs and cost estimates on May 20, 2025, for two MAPS cultural projects: the Henrietta B. Foster Center and the Clara Luper Civil Rights Center. The City Council received the reports as informational and did not take a separate final action on either project at the meeting.

David Todd, MAPS program manager, introduced JHBR Architecture’s Jack Joyner to present the Henrietta B. Foster Center scope. The Foster project is a renovation of an existing community center with new parking and exterior work. Joyner described a program that preserves about half of the existing gym — including the HB Foster logo embedded in the floor — and adds a new main entrance adjacent to additional parking acquired by the city. The planned ground‑floor program includes a small‑business incubator with storefronts, a shared kitchen for food entrepreneurs, conference and multi‑use space, and outdoor areas for community engagement. A mezzanine would house a podcast studio, a maker space and additional office/conference areas.

Joyner said the design budget is $12,254,000. An earlier demolition package cost $181,000; a third‑party cost estimate that Joyner cited put total projected construction costs at approximately $12,508,000. The timeline shown by the consultant called for final design in late 2025, bidding in January 2026 and construction starting in early 2026 through mid‑2027.

Colin Fleck (Bacchus—consultant team) presented the preliminary report for the Clara Luper Civil Rights Center, sited between Madison and NW 24th/25th on Martin Luther King Avenue near the existing Freedom Center. Fleck said the program prioritizes rentable event and education spaces for the first phase, while an expanded exhibition and collections component is planned as a future phase because of budget constraints. The team is working with Lord Cultural Resources and Gallagher & Associates on exhibition and program elements. The Clara Luper project budget was presented at $11,811,000 with about $600,000 of outside funding noted, for an all‑in total near $12.3 million; Fleck said the project schedule aims for design completion in November and bidding in January 2026.

Staff flagged phasing and alternates for both projects — for example, the Clara Luper plan included options for a concrete storm shelter as an alternate and coordination with OG&E about relocating or funding utility line removals along MLK. No council vote was taken on either preliminary report; staff said both projects will move to final design and then to bidding, at which time the council will see cost‑increase or contract items requiring formal approval.