LAWTON – Lawton is hitting the pause button on the youth indoor sports complex, giving officials time to develop a better plan.
The Lawton City Council voted 8-0 March 22 to end a professional services agreement with the Texas-based firm Stantec Architecture Inc., which had prepared a conceptual design for the sports complex. The council approved the conceptual design in December and directed staff to negotiate a contract with Stantec to produce construction documents and keep the project moving forward.
Those negotiations stalled in part because the city and Stantec disagreed about the contract that Stantec wanted to use.
Stantec wanted to use the American Institute of Architects’ standard contract for the project, said Deputy City Manager Dewayne Burk. The city’s legal staff reviewed the AIA template and did not object to the format, but staff thought some of the wording should be revised.
“In light of the fact that we were unable to do that, we’ve basically reached an impasse,” he said. “So, I felt like it was important that we bring that back to you.”
Burk said the two sides also disagreed on other issues, including the potential cost of building the complex. The most recent estimates pegged the construction cost at $24 million, which did not include architectural or contingency fees.
Stantec’s concept called for an 86,000-square-foot facility which would include space for indoor soccer, basketball and volleyball; a walking track; and other amenities. Part of the facility would serve as a public storm shelter.
Councilwoman Linda Chapman asked the deputy city manager to address a Facebook rumor that Stantec had decided it didn’t want to work with Lawton.
“Some of the conversations were that it wasn’t the city who had a concern but the architecture company, that the architecture company did not like the city,” she said.
Burk said he had not heard those rumors and did not believe they were accurate. He said the city and Stantec simply could not resolve their differences on key issues, including who had the final say over the appearance of the complex.
“There were too many variables that we couldn’t get nailed down,” Burk said. “As a result, we felt if we couldn’t get a favorable agreement, we did not want to go through some of our past errors with some of our older contracts and have to deal with some of that.”
City Manager Michael Cleghorn said the city’s discussions with Stantec remained professional, even when the two sides disagreed.
“Just because we couldn’t see eye to eye on how that contract was structured to support the vision that we had doesn’t mean they’re a bad company,” he said. “That’s not to say that at all. We just couldn’t come to an agreement.”
Councilman Randy Warren said ending the agreement with Stantec gives the city a chance to take a fresh look at the complex.
“The whole purpose of this is to try to get as much as we possibly can for the citizens and the youth of Lawton,” he said. “This doesn’t really close any doors. It might even open some doors to other projects and other activities and things of that nature.”
In other business, the council directed city staff to study the possible financial benefits of creating a tax increment financing zone within TIF District No. 1, which covers most of downtown Lawton. The new district would center on Central Plaza.