Bryan council approves $525,000 contract for design of new animal center

The Bryan City Council approved a professional services agreement with Jackson Ryan Architects (Houston) for the design of a new Bryan Animal Center at 2101 E. Martin Luther King Jr. Street.

Frank Clark (presentation lead) said the contract covers schematic design, design development, construction documents, bidding support and construction‑phase services; the not‑to‑exceed architect fee is $525,000. Clark said Jackson Ryan's base fee is $326,000 with additional fees for structural ($52,000) and MEP ($119,000) consultants; there is a reduced FF&E (furniture, fixtures and equipment) line of $12,000 in the contract materials because staff plans to use existing donations for much of that work.

Materials presented a $7,430,000 construction budget for fiscal year 2026; staff said they have approximately $400,000 in donations that could be applied toward FF&E to keep that work out of contracts. Clark described the intended delivery method (construction manager at risk) and said the architect will work with the CMAR to develop a guaranteed maximum price and value‑engineer if needed to stay within budget.

Ashley Bishop (Animal Services supervisor) explained program elements such as canine enrichment and meet‑and‑greet spaces; staff said the schematic will be refined and returned to council for review after the architect and CMAR begin design. Council asked procedural questions about when drawings would be brought back; staff said schematic designs and pricing iterations would be presented for council review before construction contracts proceed.

Council voted to approve the professional services agreement so the architect can begin work; staff will issue an RFP for a construction manager and return to council with further schematic materials and the CMAR contract for consideration.