An exterior view of the FairOaks Mall.
Republic file photo
City officials may modify initial pieces of the NexusPark project, after cost estimates exceeded the $35 million budget, though officials declined to give an exact figure on the overruns.
Associate Director of Recreation Nikki Murphy said at Monday’s Parks Board meeting that the city has received cost estimates from its construction manager, Taylor Brothers Construction Co., for the fieldhouse and community center phases of the project. The city’s architect for these pieces is Perkins and Will.
“We’ve … reviewed options for both phases and have been working closely with Perkins and Will and Taylor Brothers to pare those items down to a more feasible scope of work,” Murphy said. “And we are actively working on putting in alternates for those phases as well, alternate paths and alternate removals. So we will know more probably in the next couple of weeks, in terms of where that might settle down.”
Murphy said cost estimates were for “a full master planned build out” are and have not been finalized or phased. The estimates are “not applicable to the project as it will exist moving forward,” she said.
“The estimates were, as expected on these types of projects, over budget,” she said. “We are continuing to work with our team to hit our combined $35 million targeted, combined budget.”
Officials did not give a figure for how much over budget the estimates were. Executive Director of Community Development and Administration Mary Ferdon said that they won’t have a “concrete estimate” for the phases until receiving the final schematic design in December.
“We have had several iterations of the schematic design and estimates change every time something is added or subtracted,” she said. “Our goal is to stay within our budget for both phases of the project – the fieldhouse and the parks administrative and community spaces.”
In regards to funding, Ferdon said in October that the city plans to use an estimated $20 million to $22 million EDIT bond for the fieldhouse and a park bond of about $11 million for the parks department spaces. Final numbers will depend on factors such as project costs and interest rates.
Columbus Regional Health and the city of Columbus partnered in 2018 to purchase the FairOaks Mall facility to transform the mall into NexusPark, a community wellness, recreation and sports center, while also determining new potential uses for the Donner Center and connectivity with surrounding areas.
The NexusPark campus will include:An indoor sports fieldhouse
Columbus Parks administrative, activity and community spaces
Retail
Restaurants
CRH medical and wellness offices
City officials have met with Shannon Sullivan from Indiana Sports Corp during a stakeholder meeting. The organization “handles most of the large-scale bids for the state of Indiana” in regards to events, said Murphy, so the city wanted to make sure they were brought in during the fieldhouse development.
“She’s (Shannon) very excited what the opportunity that might hold for Indiana and was going to a conference the very next week, so she was going to get some questions answered for us by professionals who actually run those tournaments and start to get the word out about a fieldhouse for us,” she said.
Indiana Sports Corp’s vision is “to inspire and advance Indiana communities through sports.” It was founded in 1979 as the country’s first sports commission. Since that time, the organization has hosted more than 500 events in central Indiana.
“Our events are broadcast around the world and bring national and international attention to the area,” the organization states on its site. Indiana Sports Corp plays a role in securing events such as Big 10 championships.
Murphy also noted that the city and Columbus Regional Health has been working with Cronin, a marketing and advertising agency, on branding for NexusPark, and they are on track to produce a logo and documents by mid-December.
