Oak Ridge council awards contract for nearly $5M conference center

A portion of the Oak Ridge Civic Center will become a conference center in the future. Oak Ridge City Council has awarded the construction contract to Path Construction Northeast Inc., of Arlington Heights, Illinois.

Path Construction submitted the lowest bid at $4.26 million. Clark Nexsen, the Johnson City company that provided the design for the new conference center, reviewed the bids and recommended the low bidder be awarded the contract and that a $327,000 contingency be added for unexpected costs, bringing the cost up to $4.59 million, according to information provided through the June 12 city council meeting agenda packet.

The state of Tennessee is providing $2.9 million of the funding through a grant for the Science and Energy Education and Meeting Center. A total of $435,000 of that grant has been committed to architectural and geotechnical services, according to the city information, leaving nearly $2.47 for the 15-month construction project. The remaining amount will be paid through the city's general fund budget.

The conference center, which won't include the gym, will be 10,834 square feet and will have a banquet hall that could comfortably seat at least 400 people at tables. Partitions could be set up to turn that large hall into three smaller meeting spaces. There would also be smaller breakout rooms located at the front of the facility.

"The project will include improvements to shower and restroom facilities as well as a remodel of the existing Civic Center kitchen and establishing a corridor outside of the Civic Center for visitors to be able to see the entrance to the conference center from Oak Ridge Turnpike. As a part of the project, a sprinkler system will be installed in the entire Civic Center facility. The Civic Center’s recreational spaces like the pool and gym will remain at the facility," stated a city news release.

"Prior to developing the design of the conference center, project managers met with volunteers on some of the city’s advisory boards, including the Recreation & Parks and Youth Advisory boards, to collect input. Architects gave a public presentation at the City Council work session in January and Council was also given an update at its work session in April," the release stated.

At recent city council meetings, officials have discussed that offices for the city's Recreation and Parks Department staff can be moved from the Civic Center to the old Recording for the Blind & Dyslexic building on Badger Road. That building, vacant for many years, is owned by the city.

There will be more costs for transforming the Civic Center into a conference center.

City consultant Ray Evans has estimated that technology, furniture and fixtures, at an estimated cost of $450,000, also will be needed, according to the city information. Council also took action to extend Clark Nexsen's contract to Dec. 31 and their payment from $185,000 to $416,768.

In addition, city officials are looking at possible reconstruction of the plaza area between and connected to the Oak Ridge Public Library and the Recreation Building. This was considered as an additional alternate to the construction project bid process, but officials decided it needed more study and consideration, including items such as lighting and "development of a central focus of interest item."

Plaza reconstruction, replacing the plaza lighting, a central feature and landscaping was estimated at $652,000.

Council member Derrick Hammond asked if pricing for use of the conference center would be affordable for area residents to use it for functions, as well as it being used for conferences. Interim City Manager Jack Suggs said they will be studying how to price the facility's use so the city could strike a balance between making it affordable for community functions and recovering the costs of construction and needed purchases.

Council member Jim Dodson asked about the fountain and sculpture in the plaza. Suggs said the sculpture will need to be removed and stored during the construction work, and the "whole thing" of the fountain and sculpture will need to be looked at.

More parking is expected to be made available, and city council members were told parking for bigger events could lead to having people park at Oak Ridge High School and take a shuttle to the conference center.

Council member Ellen Smith said she saw at the previous Saturday's ORNL Summer Sessions concert at A.K. Bissell Park, adjacent to the Civic Center, that 1,000 people or more could park nearby and easily get to the area.

Donna Smith is The Oak Ridger’s news editor and covers Oak Ridge area news. Email dsmith@oakridger.com. Twitter: @ridgernewsed.

Support strong local journalism by subscribing at https://subscribe.oakridger.com/offers.

This article originally appeared on Oakridger: Oak Ridge council awards contract for nearly $5M conference center