CIVIC CENTER City solicits project designs
Companies that want to build the center have until Aug. 12 to submit proposals.
By DAVID SKOLNICK
VINDICATOR POLITICS WRITER
YOUNGSTOWN -- The city has mailed requests to about 45 companies for proposals to develop and operate a downtown civic center.
The city also will place the requests for proposals in various trade publications and The Vindicator shortly, said Mayor George M. McKelvey.
Companies have until 4 p.m. Aug. 12 to submit proposals to the city's purchasing department. A pre-response meeting is set for 10 a.m. July 24 at the Youngstown Club.
The city has not decided when it will award contracts.
Possibilities
The requests for proposals run the gamut from a 6,500- to 8,500-seat arena, which can be used for hockey, arena football, basketball and volleyball, to a convention/conference center, to a 200- to 250-room hotel, or to a recreation facility.
"This proposed project potentially has several facets that could be developed individually or all together as a group of facilities," the request reads. "This project is intended to stimulate economic activity and improve the quality of life in the greater Youngstown/Warren region."
The city is using a $26.85 million federal grant to build the facility on 26 acres between Market Street and South Avenue.
Among the possibilities
The arena project proposal calls for seating for 6,500 to 8,500 people, a National Hockey League/National Collegiate Athletic Association ice rink, an Arena Football League regulation-size field, an NCAA and Ohio Interscholastic basketball and volleyball court, retractable lower bowl seating, video replay scoreboard, eight dressing rooms, 10 to 12 hospitality suites, restrooms, concession stands, restaurant, meeting rooms, three 20-foot loading doors, and storage space for two ice resurfacing machines, portable basketball court and backboards, hockey dashers and glass, forklifts, 2,000 portable seats, and tables.
The convention/conference center proposal calls for 100,000 square feet of clear span exhibition space, a 200- to 300-seat theater, breakout meeting rooms and four 20-foot loading doors.
The hotel plan calls for 200 to 250 rooms including 10 suites, conference/meeting rooms, a restaurant and ballroom.
The recreation facility proposal calls for an NHL/NCAA regulation-size ice rink, seating for 200, four team locker rooms with showers, a small electronic scoreboard, and additional fields for football, baseball/softball, and soccer.
Each proposal must include cost estimates, community economic plan, management structure, estimated timetables for construction and completion, a list of tenant agreements, a list of previous projects, and information about the companies submitting the proposals.
The city will rank the top three companies submitting proposals for the various projects, interview the finalists, choose the companies that will do the work and then work out agreements with those companies.