Larkspur Community Center budget being tightened

Construction on the Larkspur Community Center in southeast Bend could start as early as next summer. The future facility will be connected to the Bend Senior Center on Reed Market Road.

Original plans started in 2011, and the Bend Park and Recreation District is finally in the design and development phase.

Development Manager Brian Hudspeth presented the design work that was completed over the summer to the park board Tuesday evening, along with a revised cost estimate.

The current estimated cost of the center is around $22.6 million, which is just over $1 million more than the district’s budget.

Hudspeth said the project will be further engineered to potentially shave off more money and bring it closer to a $19.9 million project funding. He added that it isn’t about cutting portions of the building, but figuring out how to design it in the most cost-effective way.

“Most of it is the stuff that a normal person wouldn’t see, so it’s the wall framed out of metal studs or is it timber studs? Do we take out 100 feet of fancy ceiling and replace it with something that’s a little less fancy?” Hudspeth said. “The further into design you get, the harder it is to cut stuff, because you make these decisions on architecture, on style, on colors, on pallets, and on all this information.”

While the center will be connected to the Bend Senior Center, it will have offerings for a wide variety of ages. Hudspeth said the district has the land and the need to build the Larkspur Community Center at the senior center.

Some of the planned amenities include a 5,000-square-foot pool, a fitness center, indoor track, exercise rooms and a cafe’.

“It will have a bigger fitness area downstairs for exercise classes, mind and body type classes, as well as fitness-type classes,” Hudspeth said. “The programming for that is catered highly for the older adult population that we currently cater to now at the senior center, but it will also be a multigenerational center.”

Hudspeth said the project will be brought back to the board in January for official approval. If everything stays on track and the budget is approved, the district will begin construction next July and it should be completed by October 2019.

More details and a plan are available to review at http://www.bendparksandrec.org/current_projects/larkspur-center/