Contract Approved for New Recreation Center at Mt Carmel Park

Henry County approved a $15.5 million contract to construct its newest recreation center. The new recreation center will be at North Mt Carmel Park.

SPLOST V funds will pay for the project. The new venue should open by summer 2025.

New Recreation Center at Mt Carmel Park

Design work for the new recreation center began in July 2021. At the time, Henry County hired Southern A&E, LLC of Austell, GA as the project architect. Design costs were estimated at $300 thousand.

The new recreation center will be a 39,000 square foot building. It will have two basketball courts as well as a fitness center and walking track. There will also be rooms available for classes and / or events. The project site is located near the existing playground within Mt Carmel Park.

The county solicited construction proposals this summer. Proposals closed on Wednesday, August 9. The county received one proposal from Cooper & Company General Contractors of Cumming, GA. Though this will be the company’s first project with Henry County, they have extensive experience around Atlanta and north Georgia.

The contractor estimated 15 months to complete the build.

Project Cost & Budget Amendments

The construction cost equals $15.55 million dollars. To pay for the project, Henry County approved several SPLOST budget amendments. They were the following:

• From SP5 Recreation Center to Rec. Ctr. – $2 million
• From SP5 Nash Farm to Rec. Ctr. – $1.8 million
• From SP5 Unallocated to Rec. Ctr. – $6.7 million

The unallocated funds come from surplus collections Henry County expects to receive. Because of inflation, sales tax collections for SPLOST V are above the original estimate made in 2019. Inflation and supply chain constraints have also contributed to higher construction costs as well.

The above $10.5 million dollars will add to the original project budget of $6 million. Finally, the county allocated $300,000 in park impact fees for the work. Altogether, this provides a total project budget of $16.8 million. Costs so far, like design work, total about $500 thousand.

Featured image shows an architectural rendering for the Mt Carmel Recreation Center. Henry County photo.