Design and cost update on Ultra Sports & Aquatics Complex shows $5.9M gap; council to review 30% procurement in March

City staff and the project design-construction team updated the Grand Forks City Council Monday on the Ultra Sports & Aquatics Complex’s schedule, design and cost forecast and outlined the next decision points for council review.

Design development is about 70–75% complete, the design team said. The project program includes a 50-meter competition pool, a five-lane 25-yard instructional pool, an 834-seat natatorium, a full-size 100-yard turf field with end zones and sprint areas, and eight pickleball courts. The design team said the second-level mezzanine includes an ad-alternate elevated walking/running track.

Architect Adam Davidson (JLG) and McGough construction manager Oliver Fenneman reviewed schedule and budget milestones: staff plans to request council review of a 30% Guaranteed Maximum Price (GMP) procurement package in March (Community of the Whole: March 10; council: March 17). That 30% package will focus on site infrastructure and long-lead, early-work elements (foundations, steel, precast) to obtain firm subcontractor pricing for roughly 30% of the project and improve cost certainty.

The construction estimate reported at the meeting showed a current hard-construction value of about $105,500,000 (January 24, 2025 estimate) and a total base project cost around $115.9 million when soft costs are included; the designers said the project target budget is $110,000,000. The team reported an estimated shortfall of about $5.9 million relative to the targeted budget and flagged contingencies and escalation that together account for roughly $11 million in the current estimate. The team said some alternates (for example, an elevated walking track estimated at about $3.8 million) can be tracked separately to manage scope if needed.

Oliver Fenneman said the cost trend is moving in the right direction: “From the schematic design estimate that you saw back in September, we’ve done a lot of work to find ways to reduce the cost of the project,” and he noted that as design development progresses and bids are obtained, escalation and design/estimating contingencies will come down.

Council members asked about the scope of site infrastructure and funding. Several council members indicated they expected site and off-site infrastructure costs to be budgeted separately from the building construction budget; staff confirmed earlier briefings assumed roughly $10 million for off-site infrastructure (water, sewer, road connections and parking) and noted some of those costs would come from transportation or economic-development funding streams.

Other technical details recorded in the update: the instructional pool remains included in the base; seating capacity for state-level swim meets drove the 834-seat natatorium configuration; the design retains the 8 pickleball courts and flexible turf programming for high-school football, soccer and other field sports; and the elevated walking track will be bid as an alternate so the base structure can accommodate later addition if budget or schedule requires.

Timeline and next steps stated by the design team: finish design development and issue the 30% GMP procurement package in March; produce an updated design-development (DD) cost estimate in April that reduces design and estimating contingencies; and gather 30% hard bid numbers by May to measure market pricing before full delivery and final bids (the team said full competitive bidding could be later in the summer or early fall). Council members and staff emphasized the need to bring updated, hardened numbers to the council before awarding major contracts.

Council members expressed support for the design but reiterated that the project must be brought in on budget before final contract awards. Several council members asked for the administration to return with refined estimates after March and May milestones.