Proposed IL rec center’s $14.7M cost stuns council

By Mandy Catoe

Wednesday, February 1, 2017 

The Lancaster County Council has gotten its first look at a proposed new Indian Land recreation center occupying 10 acres donated by Avondale’s developers, but the jaw-dropping $14.7 million price tag sent the plan back to the drawing board.
For comparison, the 100-acre mega sports complex that the county hopes to build at a central location just north of Lancaster using hospitality-tax revenues is expected to cost $17 million.
Reacting to the sticker shock among council members at the Jan. 23 meeting, County Attorney John Weaver laughed and said: “I have not checked the pulse of any of the council members here tonight. I am sure $14 million was far beyond their expectations.”
Council member Charlene McGriff responded, “You are correct.”
The county paid Horry County-based architectural firm Pike, McFarland and Hall Associates $6,000 to draw up the plans based on a needs assessment from county Recreation Director Hal Hiott. The company gave council an elaborate 20-minute presentation.
The proposed recreation center would be near the 179-acre Avondale mixed-use development off Harrisburg Road. The developer, Charlotte-based Sinacori Builders, gave the county 10 acres as part of their development agreement in November.
“The county hopes to put a very updated, modern and useful recreation facility there,” Weaver told council members. The county attorney, who worked with Horry County before coming to Lancaster in 2014, had recommended the architectural firm.
The plan features a 50,000-square-foot building with 4,700 square feet of meeting space for the Lancaster County Council on Aging, additional space for county recreation department offices and two full-size basketball courts. An elevated walking trail would be inside the facility.
The balance of the land will include two multipurpose athletic fields and parking for 300 vehicles.
Joe Pike, a partner in the firm, told council members: “We understand you don’t have $14.7 million. We are willing to work with Hal and county staff to figure out what they don’t need to reduce that cost. We can take your budget and work backwards.”
The firm opened the floor for questions after the 20-minute presentation. Weaver spoke first in defense of the ambitious plan.
“I thought it was important for the public and the council to see what would be wonderful for the residents of Indian Land if there were no restrictions put on what Hal wanted and what the recreation department wanted.”
McGriff called Hiott to the lectern and asked him,”Is this your $14.7 million dream?”
“It is what we need,” Hiott said. “We’ve outgrown what we have up there.”
“But $14.7 million?” McGriffin asked again, incredulous.
“I didn’t dream $14.7 million,” Hiott said. “I was asked to put down on paper what we need.
“My suggestion is to come up with a budget and whittle this down,” Hiott said.
McGriff said she thought the budget would have been the first step and then determining what could be built based on the available funds.
“To serve the people of Indian Land, I do envision a center that big eventually, whether it is built in phases or not,” Hiott said.
McGriff pointed out that the cost of this project was just a couple of million dollars short of the expected expense of the centrally located county complex 10 times as large.
Council chair Steve Harper passed the project on to the Infrastructure and Regulations Committee with the recommendation they meet with the Recreation Department to whittle the plan and budget down for a new facility and report back by June.
The county hopes to sell the outgrown, old recreation center at 8286 Charlotte Highway. It has been appraised, but is not yet up for sale, according to Weaver.
“There is a tremendous need for recreational facilities in the Indian Land area,” Weaver said. “What we have up there is antiquated and very insufficient.”
The existing 9.62-acre property, with improvements including the recreation center and EMS building, were appraised in May 2015 for $3.7 million. The land value was $2.4 million and improvements were $1.3 million. Last July, the appraisal on just the land had increased to $2.8 million.
Follow reporter Mandy Catoe on Twitter @MandyCatoeTLN or contact her at (803) 283-1152.