Bids exceed estimate for Mozingo Lake center
CITY OF MARYVILLE IMAGE
Pictured is a computer-aided rendering of a proposed new conference center and golf course clubhouse to be constructed by the City of Maryville at Mozingo Lake Recreation Park. On Thursday, the city opened the sole two bids from contractors interested in building the 30,000-square-foot complex. Both offers came in significantly above the project’s $4 million estimated cost.
The only two bids submitted to the City of Maryville Thursday afternoon by construction companies seeking to build a proposed 30,000-square-foot conference center and golf course clubhouse at Mozingo Lake Recreation Park both came in well over estimates.
City Hall wants to spend about $4 million on the project, but one base bid by E.L. Crawford Construction of St. Joseph came in at $5.7 million, and a second, from Al J. Mueller Construction, totaled nearly $6.5 million.
Both companies included alternate bids for geothermal heating and a paved parking lot that totaled $375,000 and $265,000 respectively for Crawford and $372,000 and $290,000 for Mueller.
City Manager Greg McDanel, who opened the bids and read them aloud at City Hall, said the city still had “a lot of flexibility” with regard to the project and could pursue any of several options, including rebidding the project or redesigning the facility.
Another choice would be to pursue “value engineering” of the existing design, a process that would involve going over the plans and looking for ways to save money by using less expensive materials or more efficient construction processes.
Municipal officials put the conference center project out to bid after voters approved a one-eighth-cent sales tax in April to pay for it. The proposal passed by a razor-thin five-vote majority.
Much of the earthwork for the project has been completed, and construction, which is projected to last about 10 months, was to begin this year.
Planning for the center began last year when the City Council hired Wertzberger Architects of Marshalltown, Iowa, to design it.
Wertzberger, which offered the city a significant discount, also designed a 40-room hotel currently under construction at Mozingo Lake that is to adjoin the conference center but not physically connect to it.
Developed jointly by Boulders Inn & Suites of Denison, Iowa, and a local investment group, the hotel is being built exclusively with private capital and will operate as a standalone business.
Both facilities are to be located east of the current clubhouse, which is to be torn down so that the resulting open space can be converted into an open-air “events lawn.”
Construction of both facilities has long been a top priority for the council, and city officials believe the complex could attract as many 250 events a year drawing more than 20,000 people.
Plans call for hiring a new city staff member whose job will be to market the conference center for everything from golf and fishing tournaments to weddings and corporate retreats.
According to current plans, the center is to be built split-level into the side of a hill, a design that would offer two stories of amenities including 5,500 square-feet of modular meeting space designed to accommodate receptions, banquets, and other events attended by up to 500 people.
Other features include a covered west-facing deck; indoor golf cart storage; a pro shop, offices; and instantly convertible space designed to do double duty as an emergency storm shelter.
The center is also to contain a full-service restaurant to be leased to and operated by a private third-party vendor and a lower-level outdoor dining patio overlooking the lake.
In the run-up to last spring’s vote, city officials cited figures indicating center events would add an additional $370,000 in sales to the park’s existing economic impact.
According to a study commissioned by the city from EMSI, an Idaho-based consulting firm, Mozingo currently attracts nearly 470,000 visitors a year, including repeat patrons.
McDanel said the study indicates that well over half those visitors, about 266,000, come from outside the region.
Passage of the one-eighth-cent sales tax raised the total local per-dollar levy on local purchases to 8.6 cents, one of the higher rates for comparable cities statewide. However, when current debt on the Maryville Community Center is paid off in 2021, the combined tax will drop to its old level of 8.475 cents.
