WILLMAR — The Willmar City Council has approved funding for three projects for the Willmar Civic Center and the new Event and Recreation Center.
The council at its April 18 meeting approved a project to update the roof of the Civic Center in order to meet code requirements for snow load. While there was money allocated for a roof project this year, the council also OK'd reallocating funds to address the code issues.
When reviewing construction documents from 1981, LSE Architects and Marcus Construction found that the roof structure over the recreation offices, restrooms, officials' locker room and storage area next to Cardinal Arena was under-designed for the code required for snow load, according to Parks and Recreation Director Rob Baumgarn.
It was also found that construction documents from a 2006 infill project did not include reinforcement of the roof area to resolve the deficiency, and new construction of the Event and Recreation Center will increase the snow loading on the adjacent existing roof area.
Improving the roof and bringing it up to code at the same time as the construction of the new event center will save costs to the city, Baumgarn told the council.
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The council adopted a resolution reallocating approximately $254,000 from the Blue Line Arena insulation project to the Civic Center roof improvement project, which will cost approximately $361,000. There is already $150,000 allocated in the 2022 capital improvement project fund for the roof project.
The total budget for the Civic Center roof improvement project is approximately $404,000, with a 10 percent contingency of approximately $36,000 and special inspection cost of approximately $7,700.
Event center sound system
The council also approved the installation of a sound system for the event and recreation center, which is part of the Invest in Willmar projects funded by the local option sales tax.
The sound system is not part of the original scope of work, but is taking approximately five to seven months for sound and audio equipment delivery, according to Baumgarn.
He recommended ordering the equipment now in order to ensure proper delivery time, so the installation will be able to happen near the event and recreation center's completion date.
The council adopted a resolution approving an agreement with Mid State Audio for the sound system, which is the same sound system provider as the Cardinal and Blue Line arenas. The system will work off the same iPad to control the sound settings, according to Baumgarn.
The project will cost approximately $38,000 and the funds will be taken from the event and recreation project contingency dollars. The current contingency budget for the event and recreation center project is approximately $372,000, and the project is 47.6% complete, according to Baumgarn.
Fencing for turf fields
A third project approved by the council last week was the installation of fencing around the turf fields at the Civic Center campus.
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The council adopted a resolution approving the project, which includes 3,200 feet of fencing with 12 gates installed and a bottom railing.
The cost of the project is approximately $109,000, and the total budget for the project is approximately $120,000 with the 10% contingency of approximately $11,000.
This project is also part of the Invest in Willmar projects funded by the local option sales tax.
