Last September, Money magazine was the latest publication to rank McKinney, Texas, as the best place to live in the U.S., based on such factors as economic growth and the quality of its schools.
The city, located about 33 miles north of Dallas, is trying to capitalize its newfound status to attract more residents and businesses. (Its population is currently around 155,000.)
To that end, next Monday McKinney is scheduled to begin construction on a $34.5 million 80,000-sf aquatic and fitness center that local officials hope will make the city even more marketable to newcomers. The center will be built at the Gabe Nesbitt Community Park.
Brinkley Sargent Wiginton Architects is the architect of record on this project. Moody Nolan is the recreational designer. Counsilman-Hunsaker is the aquatics consultant. And Manhattan Construction Group is the Construction Manager at Risk. The city started accepting subcontractor bids in May, and local officials expect the center to be completed by December 2016.
The three-story center will have a gym, fitness rooms, sports courts, water slides, and 10,000 sf of pools, including a 25-meter indoor competitive pool. The center will also offer classes and childcare.
The Courier-Gazette, a local newspaper, reports that $33 million of the project’s cost are being funded by the McKinney Community Development Corporation with a combination of sales tax revenue and bond financing.
This project, the biggest in McKinney’s history, has been kicking around since 1999, when Ryan Mullins became the city’s assistant parks and recreation director. In 2006, voters approved bond financing for the center. (The Dallas Morning News reports that the final plans for the center are scaled down from an initial project that would have cost $44 million. It also reports that the center has taken so long to get started because the McKinney Independent School district, which was to provide $15 million, backed out of the deal.)
The groundbreaking for the new center will be a welcome event for McKinney, whose image took a hit last month when, during a rowdy party the Craig Ranch Community pool, a police officer pushed a 15-year-old girl to the ground and drew his gun on other young people.
Related Stories
| Oct 30, 2014
New hotel to be developed at future Dallas Cowboys World Headquarters
The Omni property will be one of the only full-service upscale hotels in the area, and serve as a cornerstone of the mixed-use development, which will be anchored by the Dallas Cowboys World Headquarters and Frisco’s Multi-Use Event Center.
| Oct 20, 2014
Singapore Sports Hub claims world's largest free-spanning dome
The retractable roof, which measures a whopping 1,017-feet across, is made from translucent ETFE plastic panels supported with metal rigging that arches over the main pitch.
| Oct 16, 2014
Perkins+Will white paper examines alternatives to flame retardant building materials
The white paper includes a list of 193 flame retardants, including 29 discovered in building and household products, 50 found in the indoor environment, and 33 in human blood, milk, and tissues.
| Oct 15, 2014
Harvard launches ‘design-centric’ center for green buildings and cities
The impetus behind Harvard's Center for Green Buildings and Cities is what the design school’s dean, Mohsen Mostafavi, describes as a “rapidly urbanizing global economy,” in which cities are building new structures “on a massive scale.”
| Oct 12, 2014
AIA 2030 commitment: Five years on, are we any closer to net-zero?
This year marks the fifth anniversary of the American Institute of Architects’ effort to have architecture firms voluntarily pledge net-zero energy design for all their buildings by 2030.
| Sep 24, 2014
Architecture billings see continued strength, led by institutional sector
On the heels of recording its strongest pace of growth since 2007, there continues to be an increasing level of demand for design services signaled in the latest Architecture Billings Index.
| Sep 22, 2014
4 keys to effective post-occupancy evaluations
Perkins+Will's Janice Barnes covers the four steps that designers should take to create POEs that provide design direction and measure design effectiveness.
| Sep 22, 2014
Sound selections: 12 great choices for ceilings and acoustical walls
From metal mesh panels to concealed-suspension ceilings, here's our roundup of the latest acoustical ceiling and wall products.
| Sep 17, 2014
Atlanta Braves break ground on mixed-use ballpark development
SunTrust Park will be constructed by American Builders 2017, a joint venture between Brasfield & Gorrie, Mortenson Construction, Barton Malow Company, and New South Construction.
| Sep 9, 2014
Using Facebook to transform workplace design
As part of our ongoing studies of how building design influences human behavior in today’s social media-driven world, HOK’s workplace strategists had an idea: Leverage the power of social media to collect data about how people feel about their workplaces and the type of spaces they need to succeed.
