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Council unanimously approves professional design services for potential Seward Civic Center renovation
Summary
The Seward City Council voted unanimously to authorize professional design services so work can proceed on a potential Civic Center renovation that could total about $600,000 if a state grant from the Civic Center Community Financing Fund is awarded.
The Seward City Council voted unanimously to approve professional design services that would allow the city to complete design work on an anticipated renovation of the Seward Civic Center, council members said.
The action follows a grant application submitted with assistance from Derek and Aaron. Council discussion said the project could be up to $600,000, with roughly half coming from donated dollars and about $300,000 potentially coming from the Civic Center Community Financing Fund (CCCFF). "It's a state grant, not a federal," an attendee said during the presentation. The project as described would finish basement banquet rooms and the kitchen as part of phase 2, with a later phase 3 proposed to add a new wing, auditorium, the SCCDP office and expanded bathrooms.
Councilors voted after a motion and second; the clerk read votes in favor ("Francisco, Kayla, Tanias, Miller, Singleton, Strikes and Warden") and the chair recorded the tally as 8–0 in favor. The approved design work would let the city finalize plans whether the grant is awarded; if the CCCFF award comes through (award notices were said to typically arrive in March), officials said they would expand the scope to include the additional areas described in the grant.
Mark Holterman, identified in the discussion as the newly elected chair, said he was confident the community could raise the required match: "we'll be able to raise funds," he said. Meeting remarks made clear the city already has significant funds set aside to meet a $300,000 matching requirement should the grant be awarded.
Next steps conveyed in the meeting: staff will complete design work under the approved professional services contract, and if the CCCFF grant is awarded the city will seek to expand the project scope to include the additional phase items described by presenters. If the grant is not awarded, the council’s approval of design services would still allow phase 2 work to proceed using existing funds.
The council took the vote during the regular meeting and recorded the unanimous result; no amendment to the approved motion was reported.
