Will include gym, meeting rooms
St. Charles Parish has gone out for bids on a new community center to be built next to the Sheriff’s Office complex on Judge Edward Dufresne Parkway in Luling.
As designed, the 27,100-square-foot building will include a gym, commercial kitchen, public meeting space and office space for at least three parish departments, including the Retired and Senior Volunteer Program, the Parks and Recreation Department and Community Services. The building will accommodate 500 people and will have parking for 300 vehicles.
There is also a chance that there will be enough space inside to hold 1,000 people if a second alternate for additional gym space is accepted, according to parish spokeswoman Renee Simpson.
The original cost estimate for the building was $4.8 million, but new estimates put the total at $9.1 million. Simpson said that’s because the original estimate was based on a 25,000-square-foot-building and the $178 cost per square foot for the then recently completed St. Charles Parish Sheriff’s Office complex.
“Changes in market price, the increase in square footage to accommodate two mechanical rooms and a boiler room, as well as the type of materials specified played a role in the difference,” she said.
While the price of the project has more than doubled, the parish has received about $7.8 million in HUD Disaster Recovery Community Development Block Grant funding for the project. The parish has committed a little more than $2 million for the building’s completion.
The idea for the community center, which will be built on land donated by Esperanza Land Co., was originally presented in 2009. Parish President V.J. St. Pierre Jr. said that it’s satisfying to see the project close to becoming a reality.
“This facility will allow us so much flexibility in being able to get things accomplished – from scheduling a last-minute basketball game to staging assisted evacuations in a climate-controlled building to attracting special events,” he said. “It’s something the parish will be able to grow with, as it will be built in a way that will allow for relatively easy expansions at a reasonable cost with very little downtime.
“And the parish will get use out of the facility on a daily basis.”
Simpson said that residents will be able to reserve the public meeting rooms as well as the commercial kitchen and that the gym space will be available for events such as job fairs, craft fairs and small concerts.
Because the center will be built to withstand 130 mph winds, it may also be used as a temporary shelter during some emergency events.
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