Meadowbrook Park opening in Prairie Village pushed back to April 2018

The opening of Meadowbrook Park in Prairie Village is getting pushed back five months as officials try to find a better price on the construction of a new park activity center.

The Johnson County Park & Recreation District’s board of commissioners unanimously approved the new schedule, which would have the park opening in April 2018 instead of the previous plan of November 2017.

At a recent park board meeting, Jeff Stewart, the district’s deputy director, unveiled schematic drawings and plans for the new, 10,800-square-foot activity center that will replace the old Meadowbrook Golf and Country Club’s clubhouse at 9101 Nall Ave.

The one-story building will include a large event space with seating for 200, an Early Childhood Development center, a fenced outdoor play area, a multipurpose classroom, kitchen facilities and a deck overlooking the park.

The commissioners voted 6-1 to approve the schematics and allow staff to continue creating plans for the building.

Commissioner Steven Baru voted against the plan after unsuccessfully pushing for mandating that the project meet LEED green building standards. Instead, the board agreed to make LEED certification an option, depending on added cost.

Stewart said contractors providing initial cost estimates for the center advised that the district could save some money if they included the center in the overall contract to develop the 80-acre park, as opposed to making it a separate project.

However, while the park contract is ready to go out for bid after the first of the year, the activity center request won’t be ready until late March.

Phase I of the park project will build several miles of trails as well as a Great Lawn, a destination playground, nature areas, picnic shelters, a large pavilion, water features and other amenities.

Stewart said having one company do the job would allow for better economies of scale, reduce security and safety risks, cut down on mobilization costs and attract more bidders because of it being a more valuable contract.

The board has set aside $3.8 million for the center although Stewart said it was difficult to tell how much the district would save by combining it with the park.

“We think it will be significant enough to make it worthwhile from a financial standpoint,” he said.

In case the price is significantly cheaper, the board agreed to ask bidders for a quote on adding an optional basement-level storage room under the center.

Stewart added that some amenities, such as walking trails and water features in the southern part of the park, may be opened to the public early once they are completed.

When completed the park will be the largest in northeast Johnson County.

The private part of the approximately 130-acre development, bounded by 91st and 95th streets and Roe and Nall, will include senior housing units, single family lots, townhomes and apartments. Developers have also included a hotel and some retail space in the project.

Other business

▪ The board voted to spend $139,750 to replace aged equipment at the Roeland Park Aquatic Center used to keep the dome over the center inflated and heated during the winter months.

P1 Group Inc. of Lenexa is supplying the blower/heater unit following a purchase process that ignored usual requirements for formal bidding after district officials determined the purchase was an emergency to get the new equipment in time for winter.

The district will pay about $65,000 of the equipment’s cost, with the city of Roeland Park paying $55,000 and a $20,000 donation from the Blazers Swim Association making up the rest.

▪ Commissioners also voted to move forward with a $1.49 million building at Big Bull Creek Park in southwest Johnson County that will house maintenance and security workers as well as provide some limited services for park visitors.

The project originally came in more than $400,000 over budget and required staff to trim a number of features to get the cost back in line, such as eliminating an equipment barn and having the district’s own personnel perform landscaping and build a fuel island and trash enclosure. Staff said some of those items may be retained if contractor bids are cheaper than expected.

Commissioner Leslee Rivarola expressed frustration with how the district had come up with cost estimates for the building and at one point suggested tabling the project for a few years rather than sell additional bonds or find other dollars to pay for the extra costs.

“This is what people who have a problem with government talk about,” Rivarola said.

Stewart said some of the assumptions in the park’s master plan turned out to be wrong and the construction prices have gone up in recent years.

This story was originally published October 27, 2016 at 9:43 AM with the headline "Meadowbrook Park opening in Prairie Village pushed back to April 2018."