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Councilman airs concerns about Youth Pavilion project
By TIM JAMISON, Courier Staff Writer
WATERLOO --- Councilman Eric Gunderson unloaded his frustration this week about the over budget and overdue Phelps Youth Pavilion.
"This project seems like it's got a life of its own; it keeps on going and going and going," he said. "It seems like a money pit."
Gunderson's comments came Monday during a council finance committee meeting with a request to approve a new exhibit designer because the original consultant backed out of the full project.
While Gunderson has been raising concerns for months within City Hall about the $4.9 million addition to the Waterloo Center for the Arts, he raised them publicly just before his council term expires at the end of December.
"I wanted to get this out before I left ... and I think it is important for the new council to have a work session early in January to make sure they know what's going on," Gunderson said. "This thing was supposed to have been done last April."
In fact the original completion date was March 2007, but that was later moved to October. Now the city is planning to hold tours of the facility starting Feb. 1 with a "soft opening" to follow.
Gunderson noted numerous construction change orders, including the addition of a ceramics lab and commercial kitchen equipment, that boosted the price.
The original $4.23 million construction bid price was initially reduced by $100,000 when the city discovered it was due a sales tax refund for the project. But change orders now show the project is $131,425, or 3.1 percent, over the original amount.
Mayor Tim Hurley, a strong supporter of the Phelps Youth Pavilion, said he respected Gunderson's concerns, but he remains enthusiastic about the project.
"I think everyone's frustration, especially those people at the Center for the Arts, has been over the various things beyond our control that have delayed the project," Hurley said. "But the change orders, for the most part, are covered within the contingency funds.
"We're well-situated on the exhibit side," he added. "We're tying up the loose ends on the construction side."
Plans for the Phelps Youth Pavilion grew out of a desire to bring the nationally recognized Junior Art Gallery out of the center's basement and into a larger space.
The new gallery will nearly double the size. The state-of-the-art pavilion's remaining space will include a colorful palette of hands-on educational, experiential and visual activities for children and young adults, as well as other features, including a digital art studio, ceramics art studio, two-story gift shop, cafe and dedicated storage space.
Funding for the project, including design, construction, exhibits and an endowment, is coming from many sources, including a $500,000 donation from Dale and Dianne Phelps and $400,000 from the McElroy Trust.
Public funds include $800,000 in city general obligation bonds; $500,000 from the state Community Attractions and Tourism program; $500,000 from an Isle of Capri gift prior to construction of its casino; $300,000 from gaming revenues advanced to the city of Waterloo last year; and a small portion of the state Vision Iowa grant.
Contact Tim Jamison at (319) 291-1577 or tim.jamison@wcfcourier.com.
"This project seems like it's got a life of its own; it keeps on going and going and going," he said. "It seems like a money pit."
Gunderson's comments came Monday during a council finance committee meeting with a request to approve a new exhibit designer because the original consultant backed out of the full project.
While Gunderson has been raising concerns for months within City Hall about the $4.9 million addition to the Waterloo Center for the Arts, he raised them publicly just before his council term expires at the end of December.
"I wanted to get this out before I left ... and I think it is important for the new council to have a work session early in January to make sure they know what's going on," Gunderson said. "This thing was supposed to have been done last April."
In fact the original completion date was March 2007, but that was later moved to October. Now the city is planning to hold tours of the facility starting Feb. 1 with a "soft opening" to follow.
Gunderson noted numerous construction change orders, including the addition of a ceramics lab and commercial kitchen equipment, that boosted the price.
The original $4.23 million construction bid price was initially reduced by $100,000 when the city discovered it was due a sales tax refund for the project. But change orders now show the project is $131,425, or 3.1 percent, over the original amount.
Mayor Tim Hurley, a strong supporter of the Phelps Youth Pavilion, said he respected Gunderson's concerns, but he remains enthusiastic about the project.
"I think everyone's frustration, especially those people at the Center for the Arts, has been over the various things beyond our control that have delayed the project," Hurley said. "But the change orders, for the most part, are covered within the contingency funds.
"We're well-situated on the exhibit side," he added. "We're tying up the loose ends on the construction side."
Plans for the Phelps Youth Pavilion grew out of a desire to bring the nationally recognized Junior Art Gallery out of the center's basement and into a larger space.
The new gallery will nearly double the size. The state-of-the-art pavilion's remaining space will include a colorful palette of hands-on educational, experiential and visual activities for children and young adults, as well as other features, including a digital art studio, ceramics art studio, two-story gift shop, cafe and dedicated storage space.
Funding for the project, including design, construction, exhibits and an endowment, is coming from many sources, including a $500,000 donation from Dale and Dianne Phelps and $400,000 from the McElroy Trust.
Public funds include $800,000 in city general obligation bonds; $500,000 from the state Community Attractions and Tourism program; $500,000 from an Isle of Capri gift prior to construction of its casino; $300,000 from gaming revenues advanced to the city of Waterloo last year; and a small portion of the state Vision Iowa grant.
Contact Tim Jamison at (319) 291-1577 or tim.jamison@wcfcourier.com.
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shirley wrote on Dec 23, 2007 9:48 AM:
" I still think we should let students from Hawkeye and UNI do the planning for this. It would cost less money and the students would prob put their all into it for their grade and for the better of the community. Isn't this the project that has a company from Wisconsin doing it? "
another viewpoint wrote on Dec 23, 2007 8:11 PM:
" Hillbilly, the elections long over and the people have spoken. Get over it! If you don't like how the city is run then move. "
hillbillytea wrote on Dec 24, 2007 4:15 AM:
" less than ten percent of the city voted in the last election. in most cases when people dont care for either candidate they they dont vote at all.besides, what am I doing wrong by advocating for less wastful spending and better services.sounds to me like another viewpoint is one of the few elite who is actually making money off this thing "
Retired wrote on Dec 25, 2007 11:28 AM:
" HI, reviewing the financial audit article about the Youth Pavilion it appears that we the taxpayers of Waterloo actually SAVED "... $53,000 in operating expenses but also lost $22,000 in expected revenue.." since the Youth Pavilion did not open. Lets do the math, assuming if only cost around $53k per year to operate (probably is 5 times that cost) and it only generates around $22k per year in income, we the taxpayers will only loose $28k per year. Probably a better return on our investment than on the Convention Center. With an initial cost of around $5 million it seems like the Youth Pavilion might of been a poor business decision. How many of us could stay in business with planning like that. One would also assume that Monica's Piano Bar recently closed since it wasn't generating enough revenue for the operator and the owner, but the City of Waterloo cannot close this claimed attraction even though it will always cost us the taxpayers money year after year. Lets see how much the Mayor has in the new budget to operate and maintain this facility and who on the City Council will now speak against this attraction. "
tomanderson wrote on Dec 26, 2007 1:03 PM:
" The expansion to the Art Center is the largest waste of taxpayers’ money that has come along including the Convention Center. I cannot believe how everyone in this city has turned a blind eye to what is going on down there. Do what I did, call your council representative and have them investigate the project in its entirety. Follow the money. "
chatty1 wrote on Dec 26, 2007 1:13 PM:
" Retired, another point on the operation and maintenance of this facility is that there are only 2 maintenance men for all of the city buildings. They're already so short handed they can only run from place to place putting bandaids on situations. So it'll be interesting to see what happens to the new building without proper upkeep. "
shouldbemayor wrote on Dec 26, 2007 4:33 PM:
" Chatty, that is a very good point. However, I wouldn't worry about it too much. They already have a bigger full time staff than Young Arena and the 5 Sullivan Brother's Center put together. They will just hire a full time maintenance person to take care of it. It's only taxpayer money. This is going to go down in history as the worst use of money ever. "
tomanderson wrote on Dec 27, 2007 11:17 AM:
" You are worried about maintenance? Why is there not more concern about the money going into the place before it is even open? How about some concern for the fact that it is beyond its original opening date and the doors are still closed to the public? I would like to see what is going on in there. Why can’t a group of regular citizens have a look in there and report to the city what a failure it all is? Wake up people. "
hetfield wrote on Dec 28, 2007 10:30 AM:
" I vote for Tom to take part in this review! He is certainly qualified as he was able to log on and post an opinion.
Go get 'em Tom! "
Go get 'em Tom! "
Think wrote on Dec 29, 2007 10:06 AM:
" Too bad Eric didn't show that before. But the people voted (or didn't) and they deserve just what they asked for. They got it! another viewpoint enjoy you art. There won't be a line to get in. As far as moving, you bet I am. This is a dead City with a DNR. Shirley the Mayor said this project is too much for Iowa students to take on. "
cuttingedge wrote on Dec 31, 2007 12:51 PM:
" Finally some citizens that see why our tax bills are growing. I called before christmas break started to see if there were any activities to enroll my kids in while they were out for christmas break. The response i recieved was that they are not doing any programing until the youth pavilion was done, the exact same response that i recieved last year. I understand there is construction but there are alot of rooms in that facility and 13 benifited employee's that maybe could throw something together to help art educate our kids during winter breaks. Seems pretty lazy and a sign of things to come for this anchor of the riverfront project. "
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hillbillytea wrote on Dec 23, 2007 9:21 AM: