Preferred company selected for Cape Girardeau projects

A company that has helped design more than 50 projects such as the planned Outdoor Family Aquatic Center authorized by the new parks and storm-water sales tax is the preferred choice as the engineer for Cape Girardeau, city officials will tell the city council Monday night.

The council will decide whether to accept a contract with Markey and Associates of Kennesaw, Ga., for design services at the aquatic center and the expansion of the Osage Community Centre. Markey and Associates is one of two firms that submitted information to the city in response to a request for qualifications. The other firm that was not selected was Larkin Aquatics.

The $5.2 million aquatic center and the $2.4 million expansion of the Osage Centre are the first two projects that will be financed by the half-cent sales tax approved in April. The tax is expected to raise $25 million over 10 years, when the rate will roll back to one-quarter cent as a permanent levy to fund park operations.

Markey would be paid fees of up to 5.8 percent of the total cost of the Osage Centre renovation and 6 percent of the Aquatic Center. That translates into a total of about $448,000 for both projects.

The project timeline calls for a "soft opening" May 15, 2010. Construction is slated to start in May 2009 after a final design is presented by Feb. 15, 2009.

The Aquatic Center will be built on land adjacent to the Osage Community Centre. The projects will run concurrently, city manager Doug Leslie said, and the Osage Centre will continue to operate with as little disruption as possible.

rkeller@semissourian.com

335-6611, extension 126