Farmington Hills council authorizes planning at Hawk for new activity center; seniors press to keep services at Caustic Center

Farmington Hills City Council on Nov. 24 voted to authorize the city manager to hire engineering, architectural and other consultants to develop preliminary site and architectural plans for a proposed new activity center at The Hawk, with a proviso that the existing Caustic Center may be reconsidered if council later finds the Hawk plans unacceptable.

The motion, put forward by Councilmember Aldred and approved in a 4–3 roll-call vote, directs staff to advance design-level work on the Hawk options discussed during an earlier study session. Evan of Sports Facilities Companies, presenting an abridged version of the study, framed the decision as the next step in a multiyear project: "goal for tonight is to provide you with information, data points, community information, and other key considerations as you discuss the future of an activity center related to its site here in Farmington Hills." (Evan, SEG 746)

Why it matters: consultants and staff said a new facility would replace an aging building and could generate recurring cost savings compared with the current Caustic Center while also creating new revenue opportunities. The team used a $30,000,000 placeholder for the new building. For the Hawk site, staff estimated roughly $2,500,000 in additional road and access work — a number they described as preliminary and subject to geotechnical and environmental study. The presentation also stated that any new building at any site would likely produce $330,000–$430,000 in annual savings versus the existing Caustic Center, and that the Hawk location could provide an additional roughly $300,000 in annual operational efficiencies if consolidation and revenue-generation assumptions hold (HRC consultant, SEG 999–1016).

Council and staff emphasized trade-offs: rebuilding on the city-owned Caustic Center preserves site control and could free up land for tax-generating development (the presentation included a $3,000,000 estimated net land-sale opportunity, reduced to about $2,000,000 if a portion of acreage is retained), while The Hawk offers campus consolidation and potential ongoing operating savings but requires more complex site work and master planning.

Public reaction: the proposal drew extensive comment from seniors and long-time residents. Dan Fantore, chair of the Farmington Area Commission on Aging, said listening sessions showed users "strongly preferred" the Caustic Center location and warned that The Hawk's traffic patterns and parking could discourage frail older adults from attending (Dan Fantore, SEG 1204–1211). Laurie Darrow and several other speakers urged the council to protect services that rely on a large single-level building with an industrial kitchen, therapeutic pool and accessible programming: "We are thankful that we're getting a new location that is safer than the current location, and we look forward to the city manager, mayor, and council working together with the community to make this a place that all seniors can thrive" (Suzanne Dangas, SEG 1420–1430; Laurie Darrow, SEG 1318–1326).

Council debate and result: during deliberations some council members sought a simultaneous study of the Caustic Center at the same level as the Hawk; others said that building on the Caustic site would be comparatively straightforward and that proceeding with Hawk-focused planning first was reasonable. The final motion directed the city manager to procure consultants to produce preliminary site and architectural plans for the Hawk options discussed at the Nov. 24 study session and added that the Caustic Center "may be given further consideration in the future if the engineering, architectural, and other consultant site and architectural plans are found to be not acceptable once prepared and reviewed by city council." The motion passed 4–3 (yes: Dwyer, Knoll, Aldred, Mayor Rich; no: Starkman, Boulware, Bridges). (Roll-call discussion and vote, SEG 2440–2454)

Next steps: staff and the selected consultants will prepare master-planning materials, site engineering, and cost estimates to return to council for review. The council's vote authorizes preliminary work only; no construction contract or final site selection was executed at this meeting.

The council will review the consultants' plans when complete; if council finds the Hawk plans unacceptable, the Caustic Center option remains a potential alternative.