MARCH 18, 2010 ISSUE
Charrette on Proposed Watauga Rec Center Thursday
Architects Want Input on Desired Programming from Residents
PBC&L Architects are hoping Watauga County residents will bring ideas about programming options they would like to see offered at a proposed county recreation center to a charrette this Thursday, March 18, from 3:00 to 7:00 p.m. in the Watauga County Commissioners’ Boardroom, located in the Watauga County Administration Building on King Street in Boone.
“We’re looking for residents to come and say what it is they would like to see in a new recreation center,” explained Deputy County Manager Deron Geouque. “The architects and the commissioners want citizen input.”
According to Geouque, Thursday’s charrette will work as a “drop-in type affair,” with the architects giving a short presentation on the proposed site and an update on the process at 3:00 p.m. and then again around 5:45 p.m. to accommodate the after-work crowd. Throughout the day, citizens are encouraged to speak and share ideas with the architects and commissioners. “We hope citizens will feel free to come anytime between 3:00 and 7:00 p.m.,” he said.
Background
According to Watauga County Manager Rocky Nelson, while constructing the new Watauga High School in 2009, the county installed a two-acre, rough-graded building pad adjacent to the high school site that could be used as the footprint for a proposed new recreation center—a goal outlined in the county’s master plan for more than 25 years.
In early February, the Watauga Board of Commissioners withdrew a request for $4,524,000 in Recovery Zone Economic Development Bonds allocated to the county by the U.S. Department of the Treasury for the creation of a proposed 80,000-square-foot indoor county recreation center, and instead submitted a request for reallocated bonds in the amount of $12,000,000—the expected total cost of the project. Also in February, the commissioners issued a request for qualifications to find architects interested in working on the project.
During the commissioners’ March 1 meeting, the commissioners instructed county staff to release $50,000 earmarked for future parks and recreation matters from the Capital Reserve. Nelson was given the green light to spend up to $50,000 on professional services related to the proposed recreation center. On that same day, a committee comprised of Watauga County Commissioners Jim Deal and Billy Ralph Winkler, Nelson, Geouque and Parks and Recreation Director Steven Poulos selected PBC&L (Pearce Brinkley Cease & Lee) Architects in Asheville—selected from 19 applications—to draw up plans for a proposed county recreation center.
For more information on the charrette, call 828-265-8000.
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