Cedar Rapids’ NW Rec Center finally on the way

CEDAR RAPIDS - Bids will be opened on June 3 for the new Northwest Recreation Center, which is being built next to and on the site of Harrison Elementary School.

No city building that is replacing one lost in the Flood of 2008 has taken more time to build and had more starts and stops along the way.

Construction is slated to start in July with completion expected in July 2016, Sven Leff, the city's parks and recreation director, told the City Council this week.

The new center takes the place of the Time Check Recreation Center which was destroyed in the 2008 flood.

Leff said the new center will be 16,000 square feet or about one-quarter the size of the downtown YMCA. It will feature a full-size gymnasium, a 120-person community room, a kitchen, a game hall, a computer area and a small auxiliary room.

Construction on the $4.9 million project is expected to cost about $3.55 million, an amount which does not include design and other pre-construction costs.

The City Council and a couple of citizen task forces had attempted over a few years to put the new center on a half-dozen sites before settling on the Harrison Elementary School site in a cooperative arrangement with the Cedar Rapids school board.

City Council member Monica Vernon this week asked Leff to make sure to erect plenty of signs so people can find the recreation center from Ellis Boulevard NW. Vernon and others had hoped that the building would be in a more visible spot that would contribute to the revitalization of the Ellis Boulevard NW commercial area.

A key council vote in March 2013 on the center's location was 5-4, with the majority voting for the school site and four voting for a site right next to Ellis Park.

Of the project's cost, $2.2 million will come from Federal Emergency Management Agency disaster funds, $2.2 million from the city's local-option sales tax for flood recovery, $500,000 from school board funds and $33,900 from other city revenue.