jar546
Forum Coordinator
Inside the old Cagle’s Furniture Store along N.C. Highway 25-87 near Spout Springs, the Harnett County YMCA is starting to take shape. Construction is halfway complete, but new building regulations have pushed the project $400,000 over budget, leaving YMCA officials scrambling for private donations.
“We have a bridge loan, but we don’t want to use borrowed money,” said YMCA of the Sandhills’ CEO Rick Houp. “We still have to raise about $400,000 to complete this project.”
If the funding comes through, the building will be ready for an opening in early 2020 and Houp envisions a lively center that will be open to all.
The outside may not show it, but one step inside reveals the framework of new walls — the skeleton of what is set to be the YMCA of the Sandhills’ largest and most ADA-compliant fitness center, office space, game room and locker rooms. The foundation for a four-lane swimming pool is taking shape along with a half-court, multipurpose basketball arena. But there is plenty of work left to do as YMCA officials look to raise money to complete their vision.
“We want everyone to know that a member or nonmember can use this property,” he said. “With the amount of housing that’s around this area, there’s not a rec center or activities for them.”
Houp describes the vision for the new entry foyer as sort of a gateway to the property’s offerings with computers and pool tables and other community amenities.
“The idea is this foyer is everything,” he said. “Kids can come here and there will be computers along that wall, there’ll be tables for their homework.”
Houp further envisions a welcoming area which will include tables and chairs, video games and a place for anyone and everyone to enjoy, he says.
Houp pointed out places for recreation activities and multi-purpose areas for business meetings or community gatherings.
“This is a community room where businesses can do training for their staff,” he said, pointing out another section of the skeletal walls. “Our businesses might want us to do CPR and First Aid training so they will have full access to internet, television monitors, projectors, so they’ll be able to present their stuff.”
Houp spoke proudly about how the facility will be compliant with the American’s with Disabilities Act and will allow everyone, whether they are ambulatory or in a wheelchair, access to all the property will have to offer, especially its new Wounded Warrior Center.
“This whole room is designed to allow people to come here and work with physical therapists and personal trainers,” he said. “The rehab program the VA has given them, they’ll be able to perform it here.”
The new fitness center is set to be the largest one in the current Sandhills YMCA system, he said, and will likely be its most ADA-compliant.
“We will have some specialized equipment that people can roll up to in a wheelchair and get a workout without leaving their chair,” he said.
Beyond the fitness center and classrooms which typically define a YMCA, there is another section devoted to children. The area will be home to childcare areas and general areas where parents can sit while the little ones expend their energies.
“Parents will be able to come here for play dates. There will be toys and equipment and climbing things,” he said. “They’ll be able sit here and the kids will be able to play, they’ll have their own bathrooms.”
Deeper into the facility lies the signature gymnasium. Right now, it looks more like a storage room for building supplies, but it will be home to a half-court sized basketball arena and will be adaptable to other uses, he said.
“What we’re going to be doing here is developing teen programs,” Houp said, mentioning a lack of teen activities in the area. “On Friday and Saturday evenings, we’ll have dances and recreational activities, [a] place to hang out from 7 to 10 in the evening so the parents can feel good about their kids not hanging out where they shouldn’t be.”
Houp is excited about the new Y, but his enthusiasm is tempered with concern. The concern comes from what a recent change in building codes have thrust upon the construction. Required changes to the walls along the pool has left the project, once fully funded, now searching for $400,000 to cover the cost of overruns.
The design of the building is two years old and was created with value-engineering principles, which took into account what was already in place. But changes in regulations made in January forced the project to abandon the building’s current lighting footprint and required structural changes to load-bearing walls and the ceiling. Even the duct work had to be redone, Houp said, which added another $110,000 to the project’s overall price tag. The YMCA needs to raise $400,000 to cover the overruns.
http://www.mydailyrecord.com/stories/new-building-code-changes-push-ymca-project-over-budget,60671
“We have a bridge loan, but we don’t want to use borrowed money,” said YMCA of the Sandhills’ CEO Rick Houp. “We still have to raise about $400,000 to complete this project.”
If the funding comes through, the building will be ready for an opening in early 2020 and Houp envisions a lively center that will be open to all.
The outside may not show it, but one step inside reveals the framework of new walls — the skeleton of what is set to be the YMCA of the Sandhills’ largest and most ADA-compliant fitness center, office space, game room and locker rooms. The foundation for a four-lane swimming pool is taking shape along with a half-court, multipurpose basketball arena. But there is plenty of work left to do as YMCA officials look to raise money to complete their vision.
“We want everyone to know that a member or nonmember can use this property,” he said. “With the amount of housing that’s around this area, there’s not a rec center or activities for them.”
Houp describes the vision for the new entry foyer as sort of a gateway to the property’s offerings with computers and pool tables and other community amenities.
“The idea is this foyer is everything,” he said. “Kids can come here and there will be computers along that wall, there’ll be tables for their homework.”
Houp further envisions a welcoming area which will include tables and chairs, video games and a place for anyone and everyone to enjoy, he says.
Houp pointed out places for recreation activities and multi-purpose areas for business meetings or community gatherings.
“This is a community room where businesses can do training for their staff,” he said, pointing out another section of the skeletal walls. “Our businesses might want us to do CPR and First Aid training so they will have full access to internet, television monitors, projectors, so they’ll be able to present their stuff.”
Houp spoke proudly about how the facility will be compliant with the American’s with Disabilities Act and will allow everyone, whether they are ambulatory or in a wheelchair, access to all the property will have to offer, especially its new Wounded Warrior Center.
“This whole room is designed to allow people to come here and work with physical therapists and personal trainers,” he said. “The rehab program the VA has given them, they’ll be able to perform it here.”
The new fitness center is set to be the largest one in the current Sandhills YMCA system, he said, and will likely be its most ADA-compliant.
“We will have some specialized equipment that people can roll up to in a wheelchair and get a workout without leaving their chair,” he said.
Beyond the fitness center and classrooms which typically define a YMCA, there is another section devoted to children. The area will be home to childcare areas and general areas where parents can sit while the little ones expend their energies.
“Parents will be able to come here for play dates. There will be toys and equipment and climbing things,” he said. “They’ll be able sit here and the kids will be able to play, they’ll have their own bathrooms.”
Deeper into the facility lies the signature gymnasium. Right now, it looks more like a storage room for building supplies, but it will be home to a half-court sized basketball arena and will be adaptable to other uses, he said.
“What we’re going to be doing here is developing teen programs,” Houp said, mentioning a lack of teen activities in the area. “On Friday and Saturday evenings, we’ll have dances and recreational activities, [a] place to hang out from 7 to 10 in the evening so the parents can feel good about their kids not hanging out where they shouldn’t be.”
Houp is excited about the new Y, but his enthusiasm is tempered with concern. The concern comes from what a recent change in building codes have thrust upon the construction. Required changes to the walls along the pool has left the project, once fully funded, now searching for $400,000 to cover the cost of overruns.
The design of the building is two years old and was created with value-engineering principles, which took into account what was already in place. But changes in regulations made in January forced the project to abandon the building’s current lighting footprint and required structural changes to load-bearing walls and the ceiling. Even the duct work had to be redone, Houp said, which added another $110,000 to the project’s overall price tag. The YMCA needs to raise $400,000 to cover the overruns.
http://www.mydailyrecord.com/stories/new-building-code-changes-push-ymca-project-over-budget,60671
) and ~$100K for lighting and controls is to meet Energy Code requirements, then I think it's perfectly acceptable for the building owner to blame that rotten, worthless code for making him spend ~$200K he's never going to make back.