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.