NASH COUNTY, N.C. — Nash County commissioners on Jan. 6 authorized staff to move into design phase two for a 7,310-square-foot addition to the Nashville Senior Center and to contract with Oakley Collier Architects to develop design and construction documents for the project.

Deputy County Manager Jonathan Boone presented the recommendation after eight months of concept development with Oakley Collier and public and senior-user input. The concept plan in the agenda shows a proposed addition to the existing roughly 9,000-square-foot building. The new space would add an exercise room, exercise equipment area, billiards, and meeting space the senior center’s users requested, while staff said the county would use an existing $475,000 grant to renovate portions of the current building.

Boone said the county originally budgeted about $2.5 million for the project and that Oakley Collier and a local contractor contact (Charter Construction Services) had indicated the addition could be built within that budget if the county used value engineering during design. The board discussed parking: commissioners raised concerns that the added programming could increase demand on an already constrained parking supply at the senior center and adjacent county facilities. Boone said the current proposal focuses on the building rather than an immediate parking expansion but that underused gravel parking north of the building could be reconfigured and that future parking expansion remained possible.

Commissioner Joe Davis, a member of the county capital projects committee, said he did not want to delay the project and supported moving into design phase. Other committee members present indicated they were comfortable with the recommended approach. Commissioner Leggett asked for assurances the county would monitor parking needs as the design progresses. Boone said the county could monitor utilization and add parking work if budget and design choices required it.

The board approved the staff recommendation to proceed into the design phase and authorized the county manager to execute a contract with Oakley Collier & Associates.

Ending: The county will proceed with design and construction documents, then obtain construction bids; parking capacity and site improvements remain topics for follow-up as design firms develop final plans and cost estimates.