Work on the Youth Center at East Park is scheduled to restart as the Town of Miami lakes recently reached an agreement with a surety company that guaranteed the performance bond for the original contractor that defaulted on the $1 million project.
In March 2013, the Town halted work on the Youth Center after staff noticed that work was not in accordance with the approved plans and exhibited poor workmanship that was going to affect the life expectancy, performance of the building, and the safety of its users. Negotiations of the agreement with the surety company further delayed the project.
With the agreement now reached, Town staff and consultants determined the best course of action to remediate the defective work was a partial demolition which includes most of the roof and the top half the exterior walls. A bid request for demolition was put out and is due by July 14. Then, the Town Council will award the contract and the work is estimated to take 30 days.
Staff is now in the process of preparing bid request documents for the continuation of the work. All of the Youth Center work is being conducted under the original amount of funds budgeted and allocated for the project.
“A Youth Center is important to the well-being of every thriving community,” said Mayor Wayne Slaton. “Finally the Town will now have one to call its own.”
The new Youth Center will be a state-of-the-art facility that will serve the current and future generations of youth in the town. The project includes the 4,000 square-foot building with multi-purpose activity rooms and classrooms for after-school educational programs and tutoring, a quiet area for studying, active area with games and televisions, and a lounge area with an outdoor patio.
The building and park will be completely Wi-Fi accessible and a free Town Wi-Fi Hot Spot. Other amenities include a half basketball court, central outdoor courtyard, two pavilions that can be rented for small events and functions, playground equipment and additional parking.