Council OKs second recreation building at Lazy Creek Park

The existing recreation building at Lazy Creek Park will be remodeled and a second building built. (Staff photo)

Menifee City Council has authorized the city manager to execute a contractor agreement for $1.58 million in improvements to the Lazy Creek Recreation Center, including construction of a second building on site.

According to the staff proposal approved by the council at its Feb. 17 meeting, the expansion will enable the city’s Community Services Department to offer more programs at the city’s only dedicated community center for youth activities. Lazy Creek Park is located at 26480 Lazy Creek Road.

The project includes remodeling of the existing 1,990-square-foot recreation building and construction of an adjacent 2,360-square-foot building.

According to the proposal, “Both buildings will provide year-round programs, camps, and events within the City of Menifee. The existing 1,990-square-foot recreation center building will be renovated to provide upgrades including a new roof, electrical, lighting, HVAC, windows, doors, paint, accessibility parking stalls, and other similar improvements. The new 2,360-square-foot recreation building will include two 738-square-foot multi-purpose rooms, a 267-square-foot food preparation and serving area, a 185-square-foot storage room, two restrooms, and a patio.”

City Manager Armando Villa was authorized to execute the contract with Optima RPM, Inc., the lowest of 12 bidders for the project. Total construction cost, including construction management and materials testing services, is $1,882,235. Available funding for this project from the current city budget is $1,365,155 – leaving a funding gap of $517,080.

To ensure that the project begins in a timely manner, city staff identified a total of $405,979 in the city budget in projects that were already completed or came in under budget, including $137,979 for improvements to the Kay Ceniceros Center. To make up the difference, the City Council approved an appropriation of an additional $111,101 from the Community Services Department budget.

Anticipated start of construction is March 1. Below is a design rendering of the new building and a graphic showing the scale and location of the two buildings when completed.