Grandview Heights projects remain within funding while leaders plan next steps for Top of the Hill site

City staff updated the Grandview Heights Recreation Services and Public Facilities Committee on Oct. 12, 2025, saying the municipal building and the new parks building are near their final costs and that the city retains a contingency of about $371,000 for the overall package.

The presentation outlined how the city trimmed building size and controlled costs on the new municipal building, applied savings to the parks project at McKinley Field Park, and expects to deliver the three linked projects (municipal building; McKinley Field parks building; Wyman Woods interim work) within the funding set aside from the 2022 levy and related sources.

Why it matters: The package covers public safety facilities, administrative offices and recreation services located in central Grandview Heights. Cost and schedule changes for the municipal building directly affect what money is available to create an interim park condition and fund future master planning for the Top of the Hill site at 1016 Grandview Avenue.

City staff said the municipal building (Fire/EMS/Police/Administrative services) is tracking to a construction cost of about $24,600,000 and a total project cost including soft costs of about $29,700,000. The parks building at McKinley Field Park has a construction total around $3.9 million and, with soft costs, is tracking at about $4.4 million. The city still has a $1,000,000 allocation reserved for the Wyman Woods expansion, giving an estimated project total near $35.2 million against approximately $35.5 million of total funding sources, leaving an approximate $371,000 contingency balance.

Staff described how change orders were handled. For the parks building, original construction was about $3.6 million with $359,000 in change orders; roughly $314,000 of those were classified as scope enhancements (additional activity room, covered patio, equipment storage and site improvements). For the municipal building, change orders have totaled about $1.2 million; staff said roughly $734,000 of that was scope enhancement (including a solar carport line item of about $530,000) and the remainder addressed soils improvements and other construction adjustments. Presenters characterized roughly 87% of parks change-order dollars as scope enhancements rather than corrections to design or construction.

On funding, staff listed the 2022 bond issuance of $25,000,000, ARPA funds, a state grant, about $8.5 million in cash reserves and roughly $978,000 of bond investment earnings that must be tracked for federal arbitrage rules. Staff cautioned that the $978,000 is subject to IRS rebatable arbitrage rules and cannot be treated as free cash; some earnings above allowable amounts will need to be returned to the IRS.

Staff also said some federal incentives earmarked for solar (tax credits under the Inflation Reduction Act) remain available but could be at risk depending on federal developments. "This project has been very well managed, and kudos to Resili. They've really done a good job," said Liz, a city staff member, during the briefing. She added, "Safety, fiscal responsibility, preservation of future opportunity, that's the goal."

Management changes and oversight: staff announced they are finalizing a re-engagement with the project's owner's representative (Go International) and stated a point person for administration will be Adam Maxwell, an appointment expected to start in April 2026. A consultant named Mike Maxwell was described as the project's on-the-ground owner’s representative lead but was not present at the meeting.

Schedule and next steps: staff said construction for portions of the work is complete or near completion and that some pending change orders remain under review. The parks building change orders are expected to result in contract deductions in final accounting; staff said they expect to finalize remaining change orders soon. The committee was told the city will continue design and bidding tasks for the Wyman Woods interim work this year, with demolition and site-prep work hoped to start in early 2026 and interim community use targeted by mid- to late 2026, subject to design, bidding and permitting.

Ending: Staff asked for patience from the public while master planning and fundraising continue, and reiterated that final decisions about long-term reuse will follow a broader planning process and future council decisions.