El Lago to move ahead with community-center project

The City of El Lago will publish an invitation for bids Friday for a planned new community center, City Secretary Ann Vernon says.

El Lago's City Council decided during a special meeting Thursday night to keep costs in line by using something called the "construction manager at-risk procedure."

"That's where you hire someone who comes in, he works with the architects, prices out the project, guarantees a price on it so you can't have cost overruns," Vernon says. "He delivers the project for an agreed-upon price, so you don't end up designing a building that's hundreds of thousands more than you anticipated."

The total budget for the project is $1.5 million, Vernon says. The center is to include an 1,800-square-foot event room, full-service kitchen area, fitness center, restrooms with showers, and potentially even some offices for city staff.

"We're hoping to get construction on the building kind of on the way this
summer," Vernon says. "We're trying to complete it as soon as possible,
definitely before the 2012 swim season, but the first phase will be the
parking lot."