A Community Center for everyone in Newport

By ARCHIE MOUNTAIN
NEWPORT — By June 23, 2020, the new Newport Community Center, all 19,720 square feet, will reach its projected Substantial Completion date…. if voters approve the project.

The projected construction schedule has been mapped out and was shared with the public at a meeting in the Newport Selectmen’s Office on Jan. 31 by four representatives from Bread Loaf Corporation of Middlebury, Vt.

The most important goal is gaining approval from the Newport voting public. And then there is the goal of raising $3 million that includes $2 million in donations to match a $1 million donation offered by an anonymous donor.

At present, the fund drive stands at $1,315,000, and that includes the anonymous donation.

Several key dates in the Preconstruction Phase have been lined up on the calendar.

They include preparations and groundwork for a bond vote, May 13; dedicated meeting/presentation, March 12; Deliberative Session, April 2, and Voting Day, May 14.

And next on the list is the Construction Phase that includes the bidding process, building permit review and approval, and owner approval to start construction.

If all goes as scheduled, the anticipated start of the construction period will be Sept. 9.

Key to the success of the entire project that includes a regulation-size gymnasium will be the fundraising.

When the new facility is completed it will be home to a Community Center and not just a Recreation Center. The Project Overview—Needs and Goals follows:

• The New Community Center shall support the current and future mission and vision of the Recreation Department.

• The facility shall support community, wellness, recreational, as well as after school programs.

• The facility shall support multi-generational users.

• The facility shall support multiple events or programs simultaneously.

• The facility shall be designed to allow both the new building and a Little League Field to be accommodated on the lot.

• The facility shall include a gymnasium large enough (approximately 9,000 square feet) to accommodate a regulation Basketball Court and seating for approximately 500 spectators.

In the summer of 2018, the Town solicited submissions from Design/Build Teams to provide Design, Estimating and Pre-Construction Services form Conceptual Design through Design Development for a new community Center to be built on the Meadow Road lot where the Little League field is presently located across the road from the Bill Bates Memorial Field, Rec Pavilion and Playground.

Bread Loaf Corporation was selected to provide those services and began working with the Community Center Committee on Programming and Conceptual Design in September of 2018.

The following program uses will be accommodated at the new Community Center:

Athletic Uses

Basketball, volleyball, indoor soccer, pickle ball, wrestling, Ping Pong, other ball games, community sport leagues.

Non-Athletic Uses

Dances, movies, summer camp, walking clubs (gym), teen clubs, crafts, birthday rentals, staff and coach training, board games, clubs, function hall, classroom, speakers and lectures, multi-generational clubs, after-school program space for kids and teens.

On the money side, the Total Project Budget calls for $6,484,550. The target budget was $7 million with the project coming in under budget by $515,450.

Broken down, the Construction Cost calls for $1,027,000 for Site Development and $4,231,000 for General Construction, a total of $5,258,000. The Contractor Fee of 3 percent is $158,000 and the Construction Contingency of 7.5 percent, $406,000. The total professional fees for Architecture, Engineering, pre-Construction and Construction Administration are listed at $249,550.

Community Center Committee members include Hunter Rieseberg, town manager; Timothy Bates, at-large; Brian Coronis, Friends of Recreation; Todd Fratzel, Board of Selectmen; Cindy Gallagher, Newport School Board; Hillary Halleck, Friends of Recreation; P.J. Lovely, Recreation Department; Jeff North, at-large; Kevin Pollari, at-large and Christy Whipple, at-large.