City Council OKs plan for rec centers, takes care of other business

By West Texas Tribune | January 6, 2025 |

Abilene is one step closer to getting two new recreation centers after the Abilene City Council, at their last meeting, authorized the city manager to approve a guaranteed maximum price $23,207,695 for the construction of the G.V. Daniels and Cesar Chavez Recreation Centers.

Councilman Blaise Regan, left, raised questions about several items on the Abilene City Council’s Dec. 19 agenda. Also pictured is Mayor Weldon Hurt. (Photo by Floyd Miller)

On Dec. 19, the council voted 6-1 to approve the resolution regarding the construction. A bond for the project was approved by Abilene voters in November 2023, and in June 2024, the City of Abilene approved an Agreement with a Construction Manager at-Risk (Teinert Construction) for the recreation centers. Teinert Construction received bids for the project components and determined the guaranteed maximum price for the work. The base bid came in within budget, and the project is expected to take 12-14 months for construction.

The lone vote against the proposal was Blaise Regan, who brought up concerns about the design of the front of the building, comparing it to the original renderings that had been presented to the council initially. Regan said that he had seen the new design only a few days before the meeting and was surprised and disheartened by what he saw. He also said that others had reached out to him with concerns about the design.

“The look of it is not something that inspires the neighborhoods that we are putting this into,” he said. “And I think that we as a council and a city, we rarely have the opportunity to design something that is going to really promote the look and feel of the city, because most of the time, it is private development; we are just doing zoning changes or promoting that. We are not actually getting into the design of it. And so here, I think we have a great opportunity to really make something that is visually going to inspire and really improve the look of the rec centers, but also the neighborhoods around (them).”

Regan said that he supports the project and loves that it is under budget, based on the original bond that was approved for building the rec centers. However, he said, he is concerned about the look of the buildings and he wanted to know if there was any way to have the outside of the buildings redesigned without changing the structural plans for the buildings.

City Manager Robert Hanna said that the changes to the design were due to an increase in prices caused by inflation since the original renderings were submitted several years ago. Any changes to the façade of the buildings would likely take several months at a substantial added cost.

“While I am not against the project, I am against the current look of it,” Regan said. “I think with just some…we will call them simple design enhancements on the exterior, I think this could be a great building. But in its current look, I just can’t accept it as is.”

Council member Travis Craver said that he has not heard from anyone who is opposed to the look of the building. “I haven’t had a lot of people circle back to me and talk about the aesthetics of the building,” Craver said. “Many were grateful for what the building was able to have what they asked for and all at the same time coming under budget.”

After continued discussion and input from a couple of citizens, the council voted to approve the resolution.

Storybook Garden

As part of the meeting’s consent agenda, the council approved a request by the Abilene Cultural Affairs Council to expand the Storybook Garden, and, after a brief discussion, they also approved the addition of new sculptures for the garden.

The Cultural Affairs Council plans to expand the Storybook Garden onto the southwest lawn of the Abilene Convention Center to allow additional sculptures to be added in the future.

Some of the planned improvements for the garden include a water fall fountain, stone benches, trellis lighting, landscape plantings, a children’s playscape, and more.

According to the Memorandum of Understanding between the City and the CAC, the CAC will finance the expansion of the sculpture garden. And, when the garden is finished, the CAC will donate the garden to the City, which will be responsible for the care and maintenance.

The next additions to the sculpture garden will feature characters from Matt Phelan’s books “Leave It to Plum!” about a peacock at a zoo and “Turtle Walk,” a picture book about a family of turtles going on a walk.

Phelan, a children’s book author and illustrator, will be the featured artist at the 2025 Children’s Art and Literacy Festival in June.

Other Business

The Abilene City Council also took the following actions at the Dec. 19 meeting:

Approved a resolution authorizing the Development Corp. of Abilene to enter into an agreement with the Project Bay, a local logistics company, in an amount not to exceed $1,465,000 to be distributed as an in-kind incentive by selling land in exchange for Project Bay’s capital investment of $15,000,000 and the retention and creation of at least 40 full-time employees by the end of a four-year period, as well as the sale of about 20.9 acres in Access Business Park to Project Bay.
Approved a contract with La Terra Studios regarding the development of a pedestrian plaza located between North First and North Second streets on the east side of Cypress Street, with La Terra providing for the boundary and topographic survey, design, construction documents, bidding, and construction observation for the pedestrian plaza. The City of Abilene has received private financial support for the project.
Tabled an item regarding a Special Events Policy for the City until a subcommittee can be formed and further research the topic.
Approved the first reading of an amendment to the City’s Land Development Code, establishing new standards for smaller off-site advertising signs.
Approved the first reading of an ordinance that will discontinue the fluoridation of Abilene’s Public Water Supply System upon giving 60 days’ written notice of the termination to the water utility customers and to the Texas Health and Human Services Commission. The ordinance will repeal an ordinance that was passed in 2000 by the City Council at that time to add fluoride to the water.
Reappointed three members to the Development Corporation of Abilene: Floyd Miller, Tracy Howle and Shae Hall.
Discussed and approved other items.

The complete agenda, along with supporting documents, as well as a video of the meeting, can be seen on the City of Abilene’s website: https://abilenetx.gov/714/Agendas-Minutes
The next City Council meeting is scheduled for 8:30 a.m. Jan. 9 in the Council Chambers at City Hall, 555 Walnut St.

Clay Landen Harris contributed to this story.