Sandy officials outline Alta Canyon Recreation Center redesign, warn of $4 million budget gap

Sandy City staff and the project design and construction team updated the City Council on the Alta Canyon Recreation Center rebuild during the July 15 council meeting, showing a completed design, a firm schedule through bidding, and a preliminary construction estimate that exceeds the council-approved budget by about $4 million.

The update said the design development documents were finished July 3, construction documents are due July 31, and staff expects the last swim at the existing pool on Aug. 13 with the building closing Aug. 16 for demolition. A groundbreaking is scheduled for Aug. 25, and project leaders said they are targeting a ribbon-cutting and reopening in January (date stated in the presentation).

City officials presented floor plans and renderings showing a single building with an east-facing glass wall and a curved entry facing the canyon mouth. The plan keeps the existing pool footprint while relocating pool mechanical equipment into a new building portion; it adds a turf-covered indoor field house, a gymnasium with a roll-down partition, a community meeting room of about 1,000 square feet, a group fitness studio with a resilient wood floor, a running track on an upper level and fitness mezzanines.

VCBO architect Nathan Levitt said the field house was chosen after public outreach and benchmarking other valley facilities; he said indoor turf space is in short supply and that the turf field can be converted in the future to a wood floor if community needs change. Layton Construction vice president Jared Adamson and estimator Jacob Zuhfeldt described market pressures that drove the design-development (DD) estimate well above the city's budget. Adamson said the DD estimate is about $23.5 million compared with the city's planning budget of $19.5 million. He cited recent material cost increases — steel up roughly 12–15% in a year and glass up about 40% — and supply impacts from high local demand such as data centers.

City finance and project staff outlined funding and contingency options. Brian Kelly said the project already includes $2.1 million in contingencies: $1 million in design contingency, $700,000 in construction contingency and $400,000 for market contingency; the Miller family donation has increased from an assumed $1 million to $2 million; the county grant request is for $4 million though the budget had only assumed $3 million; and the planned sale of a city property (Fire Station 301) recently appraised at a little over $4 million could yield roughly $1.9 million more than the amount the budget had included. Using those items together, staff said the shortfall could shrink substantially or be covered without new borrowing, and that they will return with additional financial recommendations.

Council members pressed for more engagement by the Alta Canyon advisory board and for outreach explaining what will and will not change in the pool. Multiple council members urged staff to solicit the resident advisory group’s feedback in the next two weeks because the project will be taken to a council vote on July 29.

The presentation and Q&A were informational only; no formal council action was taken on July 15. Staff told the council they will bring the project back on July 29 as a voting item and offered to provide written follow-up materials summarizing funding options and the contingency analysis.

What’s next: staff will finalize construction documents July 31, proceed to bid solicitation in early August, return with financing options and recommended adjustments before the July 29 meeting, and will continue to meet weekly with the design team and contractors; the city invited council and advisory board members to participate in Thursday design meetings at 8:30 a.m.