Council reviews $80M concept for new McMinnville parks and recreation center, asks for 10‑lane and cost options

Designers and consultants presented a concept plan June 9 for a new McMinnville parks and recreation facility and fielded detailed questions from the city council about size, cost and operations.

City Manager Adam Garvin introduced the work session and asked OPSIS architects and construction estimator Pence to walk the council through program, site placement and costs. Jim of OPSIS said the base building program is about 59,500 square feet with aquatics, recreation/gym space, community rooms and support areas; adding a bulkhead for a ‘stretch’ configuration would increase the building by roughly 2,000 square feet to about 62,000. Jim said the base aquatic plan includes an eight‑lane, 25‑yard competition pool plus a warm‑water recreation pool with zero‑depth entry and that spectator seating in the design was sized similar to the existing facility — roughly 380–400 seats.

The design team positioned the single‑story building at the northwest corner of the triangular site near Marsh and Riverside, showing about 150 parking stalls and a service yard accessed from Marsh Street. The team described material choices — concrete masonry (CMU) walls, mass plywood roof elements and pre‑engineered metal building panels for the gym — and said the choices seek a balance of durability, cost and the Northwest wood‑forward character work the city requested.

Pence contractor Dave Hayes and recreation consultant Ken Ballard presented cost and operating projections. Pence’s current estimate for the base plan places building cost roughly in the mid‑$50 million range and, with soft costs and site work included in the team’s summary slide, the overall base project figure presented to the council was roughly $80 million. Ballard said projected operating expenses for a consolidated center are “nearly $4,000,000 a year” and that projected earned revenue is about $2,300,000 annually — a roughly $1.6 million operating gap and a cost‑recovery rate the team estimated near 59 percent under current assumptions.

Councilors pressed the team on a set of follow‑up items they want before deciding bond timing and scope. Multiple councilors urged the design team to evaluate a 10‑lane competition pool and a minimum 500 spectator seats so the facility could host higher‑level meets and increase revenue potential. Councilor Tukulski said a 10‑lane option would increase event hosting opportunities; consultants said that a 10‑lane arrangement likely requires either a larger pool envelope or a moving bulkhead arrangement and will raise costs. Councilors also requested: a clear price for adding the community room; a firm cost delta from the standard eight‑lane to any 10‑lane/expanded seating option; additional deck area and staging space for teams; a site‑work breakdown (the packet line for site work was noted but not detailed); and an operating‑budget sensitivity analysis showing impacts if revenue or expenses deviate from projections.

On construction risk, Pence and the architects emphasized the importance of durable pool construction and of separating the pool as its own vessel to avoid corrosion and premature failures. Dave Hayes said poorly designed pools ‘‘eat themselves from the inside out’’ if not built with appropriate materials and detailing; the team recommended CMU walls plus careful detailing and mechanical separation for pool environments.

Council discussion closed with a request for further information rather than a formal vote. City Manager Garvin said the property acquisition remains under a purchase‑and‑sale agreement with the Water & Light utility through mid‑December and outlined options for including property acquisition in a bond package. Several councilors said the packet did not yet have enough detail to put a refined package on the November ballot and expressed support for targeting a May 2027 vote instead, asking staff to return with the specific costs and options requested.

The design team and staff left the council with an explicit list of next steps: provide a priced option for a community room, provide a priced option for a 10‑lane/500‑seat configuration and clearly itemize site work and acquisition assumptions; present operating‑budget sensitivity scenarios; and show alternate finish and fenestration options between the competition and recreation pools. The council asked for community engagement and an updated calendar toward a May ballot if the additional information supports a plan the council wishes to advance.