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HomeMy WebLinkAboutReview of Civic Center Park Amphitheater RemodelCITY OF PALM DESERT DEPARTMENT OF COMMUNITY DEVELOPMENT STAFF REPORT TO: Honorable Mayor and City Council FROM: Ryan Stendell, Assistant Planner DATE: June 23, 2005 SUBJECT: Review of project and bid status forthe Civic Center Park Amphitheater Remodel. I. BACKGROUND: The success of the existing Civic Center Amphitheater has exceeded everyone's expectations. In 1998 a Council sub -committee was established to explore the idea of upgrading the current facility to provide a greater flexibility and enhanced capacity. The sub -committee wanted the amphitheater to accommodate a wide variety of amateur/professional musical and theatrical performances. The main concern is that the existing amphitheater is unattractive and non-functional. The bulk of the workfor the new design occurs in providing the functional requirements needed to operate a successful civic amphitheater (staging, sound, lighting). The re -design will change the shape of the stage for better visibility and enhance the sound/lighting through a new state of the art system. The stage design was developed with assistance from McCallum and USC theater consultants. Providing more shade was also an important initial goal of the sub -committee. However it was quickly realized that the opportunities to significantly improve the facilities shade capability were extremely limited due to the northwest orientation and the fact that most summer events are scheduled in the late afternoon or evening when the sun is low in the northwest sky. To significantly increase the shading ability of the structure the entire amphitheater facility including the stage area would have to be re -oriented with the tree on the west side and the mounded seating area relocated to the southeast adjacent to the ponds. W \Agenda henc\2005-Jun 23'Arnpitheater-renew-RPT wpd During the initial design process for the remodel, the sub -committee focused on accommodating the functional requirements through a more traditional amphitheater building/stage. However, the sub -committee felt that it looked too much like a building which was incompatible with the spirit of the park. The sub -committee felt they had lost some of the openness that was so important to the park. From this, the architects explored an asymmetrical structure. Several images were entertained, and quickly evolved into a tree -like structure/canopy. When the cardboard study model of a tree and its organically shaped back buildings were presented, almost universallythe form captured the imagination of the amphitheater sub -committee and other commissions (Architectural Review, and Parks & Recreation Commission). The conceptual design was given approval from Council to go out for preliminary design and cost estimating. Staff returned to Council in February of 2002 with a cost estimate of $2,126,122.00. Approval was granted to generate construction drawings and go out to bid on the project which would occur in four separate contracts. The first contract would be for the fabrication of the tree which occurs offsite and is then transported to the site for installation. The second contract is a sole source contract for the shade canopies which occurs after the tree is erected and they have actual dimensions to build the canopies. The third contract is the actual site construction which includes reconfiguration of the stage, installation of the sound and lighting systems, and the backstage area. The fourth contract is a sole source contract for the artificial rock -work portion of the amphitheater. This portion of the contract is crucial because this is the design component that is most visible aside from the tree. The architect felt that the artificial rock -work was too specialized to leave in the hands of any contractor. The sole source contract uses the best company in the business who's work can be found throughout museums and Hollywood movie sets. Bids opened for the amphitheater remodel on June 14, 2004 and July 2, 2004. The total complete turnkey cost was $2,788,542.90, 24% higher than the engineers estimate. Tree Fabrication $624,640.00 A. Shade Canopies $259,500.00 $884,140.00 Ik Site Construction (Infrastructure) $1,426,229.00 A. Artificial Rock Work $224.870.00 $1,651,099.00 ilk Total Construction $2,535,239.00 !k 10% Contingency $253.523.90 $2,788,762.90 W \Agenda Iterrts\2005-Jun 23\Ampi1heater-rnicw-RPT wpd STAFF REPORT CIVIC CENTER PARK AMPHITHEATER REMODEL JUNE 23, 2005 Unfortunately this projectwas moving concurrently with the chaos of the State's budget crisis. This project was put on hold due to the unclear budgetary issues surrounding the State at that time. In January 2005, the City Council gave direction to staff to investigate all potential possibilities for the amphitheater and report back with a comprehensive over -view of the project. II. DISCUSSION: Three out of the four bidders have indicated they will honor their bids. The bidder for the site construction portion of work has indicated that they cannot honor the bid they submitted last summer. His decision was based on the amount of sub- contractors he had for the project and not being able to get everyone on board to honor the price. The number one concern is upgrading the facility to accommodate the wide variety of uses we have for an amphitheater. The symmetrical or "blocky" type buildings were not what the City intended for the park. The asymmetrical design of the "Tree" seemed to have not only a very appealing design but also addressed all concerns of the sub -committee. The current design will yield a state-of-the-art facility and will accommodate performances as small as a string quartet or as large as a full symphony orchestra or a Broadway Musical or Shakespeare. The design phase of the amphitheater remodel is currently complete at a cost of nearly $500,000. Construction documents have been drafted and approved for by all departments. Due to the fact that the bids cannot be honored, new bids would have to be conducted. Since the construction market has not drastically changed over the past year, staff is anticipating the bid process to yield very similar results. W \Agenda Items\2005-Jun 2Mnypithcater-review-RPT wpd STAFF REPORT CIVIC CENTER PARK AMPHITHEATER REMODEL JUNE 23, 2005 If the Council wishes to proceed with the project it will have to be re -bid. Prepared By: D artment Head: c Ryan Stendell Phil Drell Assistant Planner Director of Community Development Approval: 2" City Manag ACM for Development Services W \Agenda herr6\2005-Jun 23lArnpitheater-review-RPT wpd