Contractor Selected for Sports Tourism project

September 17, 2011 North Myrtle Beach, SC – The City of North Myrtle Beach is getting off to a fast start to build the$15 million sports arena. The complex, located west of the waterway is being paid for by a 20% property tax increase and will consist of various sports venues on 133 acres.

Design Team hired
The City announected Mozingo & Wallace Architects, L.L.C. of Myrtle Beach, SC has been hired to design a Sports Tourism & General Recreation Park to be built on land the City has purchased west of the Intracoastal Waterway. Mozingo & Wallace Architects has in turn hired the firm of Wood & Partners, Inc. to collaborate on the comprehensive master plan for the 150 acre property.  Wood & Partners has the reputation of being the Southeast's premier recreational park planner. According to Mozingo & Wallace Architects, the remaining members of its team are all Horry County professionals.
 
The City hired Mozingo & Wallace Architects due to their proven design and planning expertise, and their past performance in planning and designing the City’s new Central Park playing fields and amenities. Wood & Partners also collaborated on that project. The new fields and amenities have elicited rave reviews from the many sports tourism groups and local teams that have used them over the past year. The project also came in on time and under budget.

Over the past 20 years, Mozingo & Wallace Architects has accomplished several other projects for the City of North Myrtle Beach, including the Ocean Park at 1st Avenue South, City Hall, street-end parks at 6th and 21st Avenues South, and more recently the renovations to J. Bryan Floyd Community Center. All of these ventures resulted in creative design solutions and were completed on time and within budget. 
 
Mozingo & Wallace Architects and its team will plan and design the complete Sports Tourism & General Recreation Park, accomplish the detailed construction drawings, and manage the construction process.
 
The City’s Parks & Recreation Department leadership will provide daily oversight for all phases of Mozingo & Wallace Architects services.
 
The normal planning, design and construction management fee range for projects of this size and nature is between 8% and 10% of the total project cost, minus land acquisition costs. The City has negotiated a 7.75% professional services fee with Mozingo & Wallace Architects.

Project cost estimates based on take-offs for each program element should be known by early December 2011. Actual costs will not be known until construction bids have been opened.
 
Currently, requests for construction bids are scheduled to be advertised beginning August 1, 2012 and bids are scheduled to be opened September 11, 2012. These dates may shift some as park planning and design work moves forward.
 
The planning and design process is expected to take up to 12 months, after which construction of the facility would begin. The target for completion of construction is January 2014.

Public Input Sought
On September 20, from 6:00 p.m.-7:30 p.m., at City Hall, the City of North Myrtle Beach will hold a public input session for residents who wish to offer suggestions regarding facilities they would like to see incorporated into the City’s Sports Tourism & General Recreation Park, which will be constructed west of the Intracoastal Waterway.

Facility ideas resulting from the public input session will be added to those already identified and will later be discussed and prioritized for possible inclusion in the new park.

Facility ideas that have already been suggested for the general recreation area of the park include separate dog parks for large and small dogs, tennis courts, walking trails, basketball courts, picnic and/or festival areas, an interactive water play area, and an amphitheater.

A second public meeting will be held October 3, from 2:00 p.m.-4:00 p.m. at City Hall. The park planner will attend this meeting and will introduce some conceptual drawings of the Sports Tourism & General Recreation Park based on input received from all quarters.