State director outlines plans for Lakeside community center, paired fire station and downtown hotel-convention project

The state director said the city has selected Core Construction as construction manager at risk for a combined community center and fire station at Mark Urban Park at Lakeside and expects to negotiate preconstruction services in January and a guaranteed maximum price in early March, with construction lasting about 12 to 18 months and a public opening targeted for July–August 2027.

The project will deliver two complete buildings — a community center and a co-located fire station — built concurrently, the state director said. “We’re going to be working with a company called Core Construction,” the state director said, and staff anticipate entering into a GMP in early March after preconstruction work in January.

The presentation also covered a connected downtown redevelopment plan. The state director said the proposed hotel will occupy the current civic center site while the convention center would be built in the existing civic center parking lot. Hotel parking will be integrated into the lower floors of the hotel and the SunRail parking garage will supply additional capacity for both the convention center and hotel, the director said.

The director told commissioners the county-owned library on the site is likely to close and that its building could be demolished, though details remain pending county decisions. “My understanding is that there is a high probability that the library will be closed,” the state director said, and staff will pass along specifics when available.

Design and traffic changes tied to the downtown project were discussed in questions. The state director said Broadway is likely to be reconfigured to one lane in each direction with wider sidewalks and angled parking to slow traffic and improve the pedestrian environment; staff will sequence construction to minimize disruption to events such as the Festival of Lights and Movie in the Park.

The director described the convention center as a two-level building with breakout conference rooms and a large open exhibition space and said the project will require zoning variances. The city is also negotiating conditions of community access to the convention center; “when the convention space is built, the city is looking to negotiate up to 20 days where we will have access to the convention space for city-produced events,” the state director said.

Staff also reported ongoing work to rebuild and reopen the Burlesky Community Center with improved sight lines and back-of-house functions; that project, the director said, will be completed within roughly the next two years and will support expanded programming.

Next steps described at the meeting: staff will negotiate preconstruction services in January, seek a GMP in early March and carry the project forward to construction. No formal vote or final contract award on these projects was recorded in the transcript of this meeting.