The University of Memphis extended the expected completion dates of the new land bridge, parking garage and recreation center.
Construction of the new parking garage was supposed to begin in October 2016, but construction has not begun yet. Once pricing is approved work will begin.
“The final GMP, or guaranteed maximum price, was submitted to the Tennessee Board of Regents on Jan. 13, and we are currently awaiting approval,” Chris Potter, senior project manager at Hoar Construction, said. “The construction of phase one will take approximately 19 months to complete.”
The construction consists of two phases, Potter said. The first phase includes constructing the new recreation center building and pools. The second phase consists of demolishing the existing recreation center and outdoor pool, creating new intramural fields and renovating a portion of the Larry O. Finch Center.
“The time to have people walking around the rec center is fall 2018,” Potter said.
The university has gained 722 spaces from the demolition of the outdoor basketball and tennis courts, but will lose 1000 spaces during phase one, said Angela Floyd, director of parking and transportation services. They also plan to implement a new shuttle route using the Blue Line called the Park Avenue Campus Direct. The route will pick up and drop off in FedEx parking lot 63 on the Park Avenue campus and travel directly back and forth to a new stop at Echles Street and Southern Avenue.
Hoar Construction is overseeing the construction of the new recreation center, and Flintco is completing the land bridge and parking garage.
"Every project goes through a design process," said Tony Poteet, the assistant vice president of campus planning and design. "The project then goes through bid-out construction process.”
Bidding-out construction is the process of the contractors offering a low price to the owners in return for getting the project.
All the pricing being finalized with the state will be the last step before the start of the construction.
The current recreation center sits on Echles Street and Spottswood Avenue. The new recreation center will be moved onto Echles and Southern Avenue, and once it opens, the old rec center will be awaiting demolition.
