Cape City Council approves part of revamped Shawnee Sports Complex project

The price problems at the Shawnee Sports Complex expansion and the accompanying community center project in Cape Girardeau are being worked out.

On Tuesday, the Cape Girardeau City Council approved spending $1.23 million to add three new softball-baseball fields and two new soccer-football fields, along with accompanying lighting and parking, at the sports complex. Engineers are still working on redesigning the community center, which must be smaller than originally planned to fit the entire project within the $4.46 million set aside when voters approved a sales tax for parks projects in April 2008, parks director Dan Muser said.

The new design for the community center will be finished in November or December, Muser said.

"We will still have the same components we said we're going to have," Muser said. "We are still looking at a full-size gym and a full-size basketball court. We will have meeting rooms and a full kitchen, but on a somewhat smaller scale."

In May, when bids were first opened for a combined project, money spent on engineering costs, to pave parking lots and buy equipment for the community center left $3.35 million for construction. All the bids received then were rejected because the lowest was $3.6 million.

The project was sent to Bowen Engineering for additional work, redrafting of the project's scope and to prepare a separate bid package only for the sports fields. That was the project awarded to Nip Kelley on Tuesday.

To save money, work installing sprinkler systems and seeding the new sports fields will be done by parks department employees. Their salaries will come from city general revenue, while the materials will come out of the project's budget.

Also, roads and parking will be gravel rather than asphalt, Muser said.

"We got the project in the scope of what we have funds for and to keep the project we promised to provide," city manager Scott Meyer told the council as he advised accepting the Nip Kelley bid.

The original budget set aside $2 million for construction of the community center. With the sports fields now awarded and other costs, there is $1.85 million left to build and equip the community center and two concession stands that were originally part of the sports field project, Muser said.

As the council finished voting unanimously to approve the bid, Mayor Jay Knudtson asked city recreation division manager if he was satisfied.

Williams replied that he is. "We've recovered and we're back on track," he said.

rkeller@semissourian.com

388-3642