At a price tag of $2.2 million, the Cumberland County Board of Commissioners on Monday hired a company to represent the board during the procurement and construction of a multi-purpose event center.
“It’s a big day for Cumberland County,” Commissioner Jimmy Keefe said.
In September, a study showed strong support for a center among county residents, leading a consulting firm to recommend that the county build an 80,000-square-foot, multipurpose facility that could seat more than 2,000 people.
On Monday, the board signed a contract with MBP Carolinas, an engineering consulting firm based in Virginia with an office in Raleigh, that included the review of up to four potential sites, design management, cost estimation, construction inspection and liaison duties for the $80 million projects.
The Cumberland County Multi-purpose Event Center Committee on March 23 supported the $2.2 million contract with additions including regular updates on the project to the committee. MBP Carolinas agreed to those changes before Monday.
In an interview Monday, Keefe called the contract an “investment” to ensure the success of the project. “Although, yes, it is $2.2 million, it is a small percentage if you think about the cost that could happen with an $80 million facility because of an error,” he said.
More:Cumberland County committee approves contract to move forward with multi-purpose center
Now, MBP Carolinas can start working on the project on behalf of the commissioners.
“I’m sure that’s music to everybody’s ears,” Commissioner Charles Evans said during the Monday meeting.
Facility has been in the works for years
A multi-purpose events center in Cumberland County has been in the works for years. In an interview, Keefe said that he realized in 2013, when he was chairman of the county commissioners, that the county was the only county in the state with a high population that didn’t have a performing arts center.
“This community deserves to have a facility like this,” Keefe said.
At first, the county looked at the arena and theater within the Crown Coliseum. However, they were decades old, in disrepair and no longer compliant with the American Disabilities Act, according to Keefe.
In fact, around seven years ago, Keefe said that the county was south because the arena and the theater were not up to ADA standards. Because of that lawsuit, the county had a deadline of December 2022 to either renovate the arena and theater or find a new performing arts center.
The county decided to find a new center and subsequently secured a three-year extension for its deadline. Now, the county has to have a new performing arts center by December 2025, when it will also close down the old arena and theater.
In 2020, Spectra, a hosting and entertainment company associated with the Crown Complex, spent $80,000 to conduct a community survey about the desire and ability for a performing arts center, according to Keefe.
The results of the survey were favorable. “They thought that not only was it good to the community,” Keefe said, “but that it could actually be profitable.”
Keefe added that Spectra also recommended constructing a multi-purpose center that allows for banquets and concerts, instead of just a performing arts center with non-portable seats.
To make a great community, Keefe said that people need activities like plays, concerts and sporting events. “We’ve always sort of relied on the Fort Bragg connection as our economic driver,” he said. “We have to expand a little bit and up our game on things for people to do.”
Keefe added that he is looking for a 2-acre lot in downtown Fayetteville that the county or city owns, has an existing parking lot, is close to downtown businesses and is in an area that allows for growth. MBP Carolinas will soon present the county commissioners with at the most four site options.
The $80 million price tag does not include the price of the lot, according to Keefe.
The budget, approved by the commissioners Monday, includes:
- $48,000 for surveying
- $100,000 for licenses and permits
- $9 million for contingency
- $5.5 million for the architect
- $2.2 million for the owner’s representative (MBP Carolinas)
- $100,000 for engineering
- $65 million for construction
- $500,000 for debt issuance costs
The county will use the fund and beverage tax fund to pay for the project. The county will then reimburse that fund once it receives its debt proceeds for the project.
Keefe said that because of this fund, county residents won’t see tax increases to complete this project.
Issues with timeline
MBP Carolinas expects the project to be complete by October 2025. However, Commissioner Michael Boose was not impressed by that timeline.
“That’s only one breath away from spring of 2026,” he said.
Boose added that he and Commissioner Larry Lancaster “may not be able to see this” and that Commissioner Evans “may be in a different state by then.” Evans is running for Congress.
In addition, Boose mentioned that the 911 Center still isn’t complete years later, while Cape Fear Valley Health has built five stories in a year to create the Center for Medical Education and Research, a $30 million project that will house its residency program.
More:Cape Fear Valley to build center to train doctors. Here’s what that means for Cumberland County.
“In six years, we’ve never enforced a late fee,” Boose said.
County Manager Amy Cannon replied that government contracts take longer than contracts with private entities like the hospital because of state statute, which requires a bidding process.
However, Cannon is hopeful that this project will be different because of MBP Carolinas.
“I think we’re in a better situation of moving this project faster with an owners’ representative representing us,” she said.
Boose voted against approving the $2.2 million contract with MBP Carolinas, while the other commissioners approved it.
Selling property policy
In addition, the board sold multiple county properties to individuals who had bid on them. Keefe expressed concern about the fact that some of the bids were 20-50% of the properties’ estimated value.
Keefe cited one case in particular: a 12.4-acre property worth $62,000 near the Cape Fear River with an offer from a realtor of $14,000.
“I fundamentally have an issue with selling property at 20% of the value,” he said.
Chairman Glenn Adams replied that, as county property, it wasn’t currently worth anything to the county.
“As long as we own it, we get no taxes off of it,” he said.
Adams added that the new owner of the property would pay taxes from the value of the property, not the offer.
Keefe, however, knew what was concerned that not enough people were concerned about the selling of county properties.
“I don’t think we’re communicating with the public on the availability of things,” he said.
County Attorney Rick Moorefield replied that the county advertised the sale of the property in The Fayetteville Observer.
Boose mentioned that the county could also put advertisements of property sales on its website.
“I would venture to guess that more people look at the county website than they do The Fayetteville Observer,” he said.
The board then asked county staff to look into its policy on selling property.
The board also unanimously decided to table the sale of the $62,000 property but approved the sale of six other properties.
In other news from the meeting, the board agreed to expand its workforce development program throughout the region, filled seven vacancies on the Cumberland County Industrial Facilities and Pollution Control Financing Authority, heard that reports of child abuse and neglect had risen by almost 30% throughout the pandemic and declared April as child abuse prevention month.