Oro Valley Overstates Cost Of Naranja Park Community Center

Residents are questioning the claims made in a press release issued by the Town Oro Valley regarding the cost of building a new community center as compared to the money spent to acquire and rehabilitate the former El Conquistador Country Club.

The press release, with the heading “OV Answers Questions About Estimated Costs To Build A New Community Center” (read here) claims that it would cost $21.2 million to build a new structure. The claim relies on a faulty comparison according to residents. Rather than compare the cost of a facility used for the purposes of a community center focused on functionality, the Town’s architectural firm chose St. Mark’s Church. The elaborate church with “a recently permitted high ceiling structure” costs $280/square foot. The firm, which has not designed nor built a large Community Center and came up settled on a price of $250/square foot . The firm then used a 54,000 square foot facility size instead of the 40,000 square foot center they recommended for Naranja Park.

Oro Valley Staff / McGann overview of costs:

· Base Structure Cost (54,000 square foot x $250 square foot) = $13,500,000

· Oro Valley Staff / McGann then added additional costs NOT part of a Community Center scope.

· Sewage lift station needed but would have been built prior to the Center to support the 8 soccer fields, 4 baseball fields, BMX park, ramadas, playgrounds, trails etc. $500,000

· Grading of 10 ac. for other Park amenities $2,500,000

· Landscaping and event turf for 5ac. $600,000

· Widening a turning lane on Naranja Dr. $600,000

· Contingency for contracting risks $3,500,000 (at 20% of $17,700,000)

Total $21,200,000

That is a big number that makes the $13 million, 5 year cost of buying the El Conquistador properties for a community center look reasonable. But residents took a closer second look and found that in the same press release the Town stated that the 40,000 square foot high structure Event Center approved for Naranja Park would only cost “just over $7 million.” That would be one third of the Community Center cost for the same size structure. They say that makes sense in light of the fact that the nearby 40,000 square foot Sporting Chance Basketball structure at River and La Cholla cost $6 million.

A survey of recent a Phoenix YMCA project costs show an average of $180/square foot for structures between 27,000 and 48,000 square feet. Looking at larger Community Centers in Chandler, Glendale, Peoria, and Apache Junction these facilities cost on average $200/square foot. Of course, the major cost variations depend on the money available and the architectural statement of the structure.

Residents say that Oro Valley should have used architects with experience designing and building community centers.

Locally, the U of A Tech Park Pima Bond request (view request here) asks for $6 million to partner with the YMCA of Southern Arizona to build a 40,000 square foot regional community center. It would include an outdoor swimming pool, athletic fields, courts, ramadas and playgrounds.

The total cost is estimated to be $12 million and it would be operated by the YMCA. Residents say that the Town of Oro Valley should have investigated a similar public / private partnership for Naranja Park. Not a public private partnership in which the Town subsidizes golf for the guests at the El Conquistador Hotel while taking a second position in line for tee times.

Considering the fact that the Town has a Pima bond request for $10 million for Naranja Park, if the Town so desired it could have built a 40,000 square foot community center in Naranja Park where it was planned similar to the one built recently in Apache Junction.

Arizona Community Centers and YMCAs Cost

The El Conquistador Racket club is 20,000 square feet