The Soldotna Chamber of Commerce told Soldotna City Council members last week that the estimated cost for site development of the proposed new Visitors and Community Center has risen.
Chamber of Commerce Executive Director Shanon Davis says she told City Councillors about the unexpected cost of the site development at last week’s work session.
Chamber Ex. Dir. Davis: “It turns out that the gravel excavation that happened on that site went a little deeper than was originally known and we do have some water seepage issues and things along those lines. Getting that parking area up to code and making it environmentally friendly is going to be actually quite a large expense, it’ll be about $1.3 million to develop that site.”
That cost is about $1 million higher than the Chamber’s initial estimate for site development.
Aside from that unexpected cost, Davis says the work session with the City Council was to ensure the goals of the Chamber and City Council are aligned as planning for the proposed Visitors Center continues.
Chamber Ex. Dir. Davis: “We are still very much so in the stages of talking with the City, figuring out exactly what they want to see there, figuring out if they would like to tweak the plans that we have presented or maybe change the direction a little bit.”
The City Council will have the final say of whether or not construction of the proposed Visitors and Community Center will move forward.
According to the Soldotna Vision 2030 packet, once the fundraising portion of the planning begins, the Chamber recommends that the City of Soldotna commit $1.2 million for the the Visitors and Community Center. Davis said because of the increase in estimated site development costs, the Chamber will now recommend the City commit $2.2 million which is the value of the current Soldotna Visitors Center plus the additional $1 million.
Click here to read more about the proposed Visitors and Community Center.