Three firms hoping to guide the city through defining the future of FairOaks Mall and Donner Center completed presentations to a FairOaks Community Development Corp. Design Committee, whose members will chose one Friday to recommend for the contract.
The FairOaks Community Development Corp. Proposal Evaluation Team, a four-member subgroup of the design committee, is expected to recommend one of the three firms to the rest of the design committee at 8 a.m. Friday at the old J. Nicole Store space at the mall.
Representatives from each of the three firms — MKSK, SmithGroup and RATIO — gave two-hour-long presentations Wednesday and Thursday about how the FairOaks Mall could be transformed into a community wellness, recreation and sports tourism complex.
The presentations focused on the firms’ experience with similar projects, their approach to the project and how they would incorporate public input. Dozens of people attended the interviews, which were held at the mall.
The role of the chosen company will be to help the city test the feasibility of proposed ideas, conduct a market analysis and engage with the community to help the city decide what kinds of facilities should be built, said Jeff Bergman, city/county planning director who serves on the committee.
“What we’re looking for from (the chosen firm) is what I would call a master plan for the property,” Bergman said. “We’re hoping that they’re going to work with our steering committee and the community to come up with a program to see what kinds of pieces we want to see at (FairOaks Mall) and over at (the Donner Center). How do those pieces fit together and is there an importance, down the road, to what order those pieces come to be developed?”
For more on this story, see Friday’s Republic.
