Plans for renovating and adding to the Shawano Recreation Center have gone up sharply in price, according to an announcement from Matt Hendricks. The parks and recreation director presented his findings at the Shawano Parks and Recreation Commission meeting April 2.
Last year, the city of Shawano received a Flexible Facilities Program grant for $4.25 million from the state for the first phase of renovations. However, once the bids came in, the project found itself $1 million over budget.
According to Hendricks, the city spent about $310,132 in engineering and architecture work already. Out of five bids, Eight Pine came in with the lowest at $4.6 million. Eight Pine is a relatively new construction management company with offices in Shawano, according to Hendricks.
However, with alternate bids for a pool deck, racquetball court and painting the ceiling in the pool area, the bid comes in around $5 million. Another $48,500 is estimated for digital connectivity, cameras, landscaping and computer equipment. With a contingency budget of $88,202, the total expenses come to $5.45 million.
To trim that down, city staff came up with some cuts that should bring the budget down by $200,000 to $5.25 million. That includes omitting sunshades at a value of $30,000, not having a canopy at the classroom at a value of $11,500, and more.
However, to move forward, the city will need to pony up some money so that construction can begin on time in June. To account for the $1 million shortfall, the city will reallocate $275,000 of savings already achieved this year in capital projects, reallocate $525,000 from its 2026 capital project budget to the recreation center and borrow an additional $200,000 beyond its planned borrowing of $4.5 million for this year.
“We sat in this room just yesterday morning … and said, ‘What are some things we can do to change in the construction of this building without changing the potential future services or the building itself?’” Hendricks said. “We don’t want to change what we offer. We just want to do it differently, if we can.”
Hendricks noted that the bids, while high, were close together.
“It gives you confidence,” he said. “This is the price of this project.”
Among the planned projects for the city that are postponed is the baseball diamond lighting in 2026, along with redoing walking trails at Kuckuk Park.
City Administrator Eddie Sheppard said it was important for the city to figure out the additional funding to keep the grant from the state. He noted that department heads were very accommodating when it came to holding off on their future needs.
“You have to do this project, or you don’t get the grant,” Sheppard said. “We’re able to do this without sacrificing or cutting back significantly on the stuff that we can’t fall behind on. We feel good about this plan, and it works.”
lpulaski@newmedia-wi.com
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