Orange Beach Civic Center Design Firm

Council will vote on contract with Miami firm to plan facility next to City Hall
Thursday, February 02, 2006
By RYAN DEZEMBER
Staff Reporter

ORANGE BEACH -- For a site immediately south of City Hall, city leaders envision a civic center that can offer meeting space, a place for Mardi Gras balls and conventions, courts for indoor sports and a stage for the arts.

And to plan such a place, city leaders have chosen Spillis Candela DMJM, a Miami-based architectural and engineering firm that has designed courthouses, city halls, civic centers and corporate headquarters across the country.

At its Tuesday meeting, the City Council is expected to initiate the first phase of a contract with Spillis Candela, which would pay the company $120,000 to examine 240 city-owned acres on Alabama 161 to select a site for the building as well as develop a master plan for the project.

In its proposed contract with the city, Spillis Candela based its pricing, tasks and work schedule on the assumption that Orange Beach wanted a multi-purpose building in the 50,000-square-foot range that could host a variety of public and private events, from 1,000-person banquets to smaller affairs.

All told, Spillis Candela projects the cost of the building at about $225 per square foot, which, for a 50,000-square-foot building, would equal $11.25 million. At that price, Spillis Candela would charge Orange Beach just over $1 million plus its expenses, like travel, to usher the project through construction. If the price of the finished product escalates significantly, however, the company will ask for more money, according to the contract.

Planning the facility, drawing the detailed construction plans and otherwise getting the project ready to build will take 54 weeks, the contract estimates. Construction will likely last two years, the contract states.

The building's programming is included in that portion of the contract that the council will vote to initiate Tuesday.

City Administrator Jeff Moon, at a recent council work session, said, "This is basically what you're talking about with the design charette, going through the what-do-you-want-to-see-put-in-the-building process. That's what we're referring to when we say programming: What that building will be able to support."

During this programming, the designers will meet with city officials and attend public work sessions to gather input and devise a plan for the building down to details such as which walls will be moveable and how high the ceilings will be.

At the end of the work, the city will have a master plan for the building, a three-dimensional and full-color artists' rendering of it as well as a preferred building location on the 240 acres and three alternative sites, according to the contract.