After trauma and turmoil, a Penmet rec center concept emerges —and it’s shrunk

After two months of turmoil and turnover, the PenMet Park board got its first look at draft program for the district’s proposed Community Recreation Center at a study session last week.

The proposed building, on the site of the former Performance Golf driving range, is smaller than first envisioned. District leadership is now referring to it as the “first phase” of a multi-year project.

“It’s a huge site, and the goal is to build more,” said Hunter George, the interim executive director. “The architect team says this is what can be built within the available $22 million construction budget. The design will factor in future expansion as funding becomes available.”

At 58,300 square feet, the building would contain one indoor soccer/football field, three basketball courts, a multipurpose room for exercise or gymnastics, and an elevated walking track. The basketball courts could double as nine pickleball courts, and — in one option — could be turfed over to form a second soccer field.

Potential additions — marked “Future” on the draft site plan — would add another 55,000 square feet.

The original concept called for a 190,000-square-foot building with separate soccer and flag football fields, separate pickleball and tennis courts and an indoor playground.

That concept, however, would have required an inflatable dome roof that exceeded county height limits — and was widely disliked by neighbors. Switching to a rigid structure inevitably increased costs and shrank the project.

Turmoil and turnover

The original architects were replaced. The original project manager resigned in October, citing unspecified “interference” from board members. The original consulting firm withdrew when its contract was not renewed. Shortly afterwards, the board placed the district’s executive director, Doug Nelson, on paid administrative leave. Just two weeks ago, the district laid off its longtime construction manager, saying he had no work to do.

A new, temporary, project manager, Gig Harbor consultant Ally Bujacich, was hired on a 90-day contract with Absher Construction. George was borrowed on a timeshare basis from Tacoma’s Metropolitan Park District.

None of the this had any effect on the progress of the rec center project, nor did it affect its size, board President Maryellen (Missy) Hill insisted in an interview before the Dec. 1 study session.

“I see us on course, on target to bring a wonderful project to this community,” Hill said. “We are focusing on maintaining and staying on budget, staying on our timeline and having the proper professionals to move us forward.”

According to Bujacich, the design phase will take about 10 months, putting construction into late October of 2021, with opening in the fourth quarter of 2022. Construction cost will be $22 million.

But Nelson, the executive director who was put on leave, doubts the district can meet either goal. Because the design phase will take another 10 months, he said, the project has already missed the spring 2021 building season.

“You can’t move dirt in the winter,” he said in an interview last week. “Or if you do, it’s going to cost you a lot more. I think we’re now looking at completion in late 2023.”

George disagreed. “‘Summer building season’ is overblown,” he said in an email. “Construction companies work year-round.” George, who is also mayor of Fircrest, pointed out that ground for that city’s recreation center was broken in October and will be built through the winter, spring and summer.

“It’s not correct to say that somehow this project is delayed,” he said of the PenMet center. “It’s a multi-phased project that is going to take several years. This question of delays, there aren’t any. This project is on schedule.”

Preliminary concepts

The park district paid $4.3 million in December 2019 for the 17.5 acre former Performance Golf Center at 2416 14th Ave. NW, adjoining state Route 16 across from the Narrows Bridge toll plaza.

The draft is the result of two months’ work by the district’s 20-member CRC Steering Committee and the initial-phase consultant, BRB Architects of Denver. George emphasized that the draft is a preliminary concept and subject to change, and that many design decisions have not been made. BRB is working as a subcontractor for the architect of record, BLRB of Tacoma.

Bujacich walked the board through the draft recommendations in a Dec. 1 video presentation. Among them:

▪ The existing miniature golf course will remain.

▪ The existing pro golf shop will be repurposed as staff space and meeting rooms, adding 6,200 square feet to the project. The existing two-story tee-box structure will be demolished.

▪ The design will include a large outdoor lawn and space for as many as 25 food trucks during outdoor events.

▪ No exterior design is settled, but the steering committee was “strongly drawn” to designs featuring natural woods.

▪ The draft design contains a mezzanine level, which will allow spectators to watch games from above.

▪ The facility will have 320 parking spaces. Offsite parking with a shuttle bus could be used for large events.

Bucajich said the draft report also identified some problems with the site. The existing septic system has failed and will need to be replaced; and the existing water main is not large enough to meet fire flow demands.

No big box, thanks

During several meetings over two months, steering committee members were shown interior and exterior photos of other recreation centers and asked to rate them.

Bujacich said the steering committee liked the high-ceilinged, big-window interior design of Apex Fieldhouse in Arvada, Colo. and the exterior look of that building and Les Grove Gymnasium in Auburn.

She said the committee members had also stressed the importance of a “welcoming entrance.”

“People are not drawn to big boxes,” she told the board.

The design team was asked to list their fears about the project. Chief among them, according to one graphic: “That the building is too small or won’t meet community needs.”

That graphic caused some discomfort on the board.

“I’m not comfortable with publishing a statement that one of our fears is the building will be too small,” said Commissioner Laurel Kingsbury.

Bujacich agreed to alter the graphic to “Won’t meet community needs.”

The draft design uses some tricks to get more use out the available space. The multi-purpose room for exercise or gymnastics is elevated to the mezzanine level. The basketball courts are convertible to pickle-ball courts. Under one option being considered, the basketball courts could also be covered with a turf overlay — essentially, carpet rolls of artificial turf — for occasions, such as soccer tournaments, that require more than one field.

However, the overlay would cost another $250,000, take up a lot of storage room and might have staffing implications, Bujacich said.

The park board is expected to consider the draft program at a Dec. 15 meeting and approve the final report Jan. 5, 2021

Correction: An earlier version of this story misspelled the name of Ally Bujacich.

This story was originally published December 9, 2020 at 8:23 AM.