EEDB given copies of Notice to Proceed for beginning of construction on facility

By: Tia Lyons - El Dorado News Times - Published: 09/23/2009

Mayor Mike Dumas on Tuesday distributed copies of a Notice to Proceed for the multipurpose conference center to members of the El Dorado Economic Development Board.

The memo, dated Sept. 14, authorizes contractor CDI to get started on construction of the more than 50,000-square-foot facility, which will be built on South West Avenue, just south of Locust, across from South Arkansas Community College.

The city of El Dorado, SouthArk and Murphy Oil Corp. are the responsible parties for the $14.4 project, which is largely being funded by the city’s one-cent sales tax for economic development.

Murphy pledged $5 million toward the project, and the money will be doled out upon various phases of completion.

SouthArk will operate and maintain the facility, which will include a banquet hall and a college bookstore, student union and administrative offices. The city and college are working on an O&M agreement.

According to the NTP, Dec. 14, 2010, is the anticipated completion date for the conference center, future change orders notwithstanding. Dumas also handed out a square-footage breakdown for the two-story building.

Total square footage is 50,764 feet. A total of 29,542 square feet will be dedicated to the city – 27,050 feet on the first floor and 2,492 square feet (mechanical room) on the second floor.

SouthArk will utilize 8,449 square feet on the first floor and 12,773 square feet on the second floor.

Dumas said SouthArk President Dr. Barbara Jones has formed a task force to work on a groundbreaking ceremony for the conference center and the college’s new health sciences building, which will be built just south of the conference center site.

Jones said a formal announcement about the date and time of the ceremony, tentatively set for Oct. 16, is forthcoming.

El Dorado Alderman Billy Blann asked if a billboard will be posted announcing that the site will serve as home to the future conference center, and Jones said CDI will post such signage during construction.

She also said SouthArk plans to display a banner in its gymnasium where large speaking engagements are held.

Alderman Matt Thomas said the El Dorado Advertising and Promotion Commission and the El Dorado Marketing Implementation Task Force are working with the Diamond (advertising) Agency on a design for the type of billboard Blann described.

Robert Dudley, a member of the city’s conference center task force, asked if any architectural renderings of the conference center were on display in any public buildings in the city, and Jones said the college is looking to put a rendering on display following the groundbreaking ceremony.

Robert Reynolds, chairman of the EEDB, said an architectural rendering can be viewed on the city’s website, www.GoElDorado.com.

Jones also said SouthArk is working on a job description to hire a manager for the conference center, telling the group that she plans to speak with Dumas about the matter this week.

“We have to decide if this person is going to be an employee of the city or an employee of the college,” Dumas said.

Prior to the start of the discussion about the conference center, the EEDB approved a request by Richard and Vertis Mason for an extension for an architectural and structural engineering study of the Four-Six building on Locust Street.

On Sept. 8, the EEDB granted the Masons, downtown developers, 30 days to see if the building could be saved and if an alternate use could be found. The building and the adjacent Chinese laundromat were two of the commercial and residential properties the city purchased in the area and planned to raze to make way for the conference center.

However, the Four-Six building was included in the original plans for the conference center. Dumas and Reynolds have said the architects and contractor would like the building removed because it would make for easier access for construction equipment.

The Masons said Tuesday that a Little Rock restoration architect will be in town on Thursday to examine the Four-Six building, and he is bringing a structural engineer with him.

Vertis Mason also said that she has hired a contractor to come up with a cost estimate to raze the building.

The Masons referred to comments made last week by Roger Brooks, who specializes in tourism, community branding, and economic development and who has worked with 800 communities in the U.S. and Canada.

Brooks made a presentation to a roomful of city officials, community leaders and merchants on Sept. 17. He gave his impression of the city and offered ideas and suggestions for improvements.

While in town, he toured the Four-Six building and said it could be used as a public market or serve some other function to work in tandem with the conference center.

The Masons said they have no plans or ideas for the building.

Richard Mason said Brooks made two observations about the building that struck him: there is an expansion of steel beams that creates a total, open space with no columns and if it is used for a public market, renovation costs would be minimal.

“It’s kind of an ugly duckling, I think we all realize that, but it could be the goose that lays the golden egg,” Richard Mason told members of the EEDB.

The Masons said they will be leaving on vacation the first week of October, and they will not have all of the information from the architectural and engineering study to present before then, so they asked for and were granted an extension until the EEDB’s Nov. 3 meeting.

Board member Alan Gober asked the Masons if they would include in their presentation an education on how public markets are run and policed.

More conversation was held about Brooks’ presentation, with Thomas pointing out improvements the city could begin making, at a fairly low cost, on gateways and signage.

Brooks, like others who have studied the community, talked about the need for improved gateways, saying they don’t necessarily have to start at the city limits. He showed examples of how the ideas he presented have worked in other communities in North America.

Dudley inquired about a group that was previously formed to come up with ideas for gateway improvements, and Blann said he sat on the task force, explaining that the group met about three times and came up with low-cost ways to get started.

Blann said the group understood that while there is money in the El Dorado Forward economic development plan for gateway improvements, all economic development tax dollars will be committed to the conference center until construction is completed.

Thomas, also chairman of the EAPC, said the commission has discussed taking over the design phase of a gateway improvement project and possibly focusing on one gateway a year for improvement.

EEDB member Kenny Van Hook said such improvements should be put on hold until the U.S. 167 highway expansion is completed before tackling the city’s east gateways, and Thomas said the group could start on the west, Hillsboro entrance.

Thomas also said wayfinding signs, which were mentioned by Brooks, could be posted at a relatively low cost. The signage could point visitors to the downtown area, the South Arkansas Arboretum, city parks and other such amenities.

Gober said that since the EEDB now has a firm cost for the conference center, he will do a cash flow projection for economic development dollars over the next 15 months “to see how much money we’ll have.”