May 17, 2019

Construction of $15M community center backed by Doug Baldwin could start next year in Renton

Rendering by Baylis Architects [enlarge]

Family First Community Center will have fitness space, a gym, clinic and classrooms.

Former Seattle Seahawk Doug Baldwin and Renton Mayor Denis Law are spearheading a $15 million community center that could start construction early next year.

The plan is to build Family First Community Center on shared land with Cascade Elementary School, at 16022 116th Ave. S.E. in Renton's Cascade/Benson Hill area.

Russ Woodruff, capital project coordinator for the city of Renton, said the project team is working through designs and permitting.

The center will be 21,000 square feet, including an 8,000-square-foot gym, 2,400-square-foot fitness room and 2,500-square-foot clinic with medical, dental and counseling services. The remaining space will be for classrooms, lockers, multipurpose rooms and offices.

An RFP for commissioning services posted on the state Office of Minority & Women's Business Enterprises' website says the building will be one story with a slab-on-grade foundation. It is expected to be wood, with the gym section either wood or steel.

The RFP says construction documents will be finished by December and bidding for a general contractor is expected in January or February of 2020. Construction would start in April 2020 and take 10-12 months to finish.

Woodruff said the center will be a public-private partnership, with the city building and owning it and the center's tenants operating it. A long-term land lease will be signed with Renton School District.

Tenants will include Doug Baldwin's Family First Community Center Foundation, HealthPoint and the school district. Baldwin's foundation will run health and fitness programs in the center, HealthPoint will operate the clinic and the school district will offer a STEM program.

“The partnership is pretty unique,” Woodruff said. “I don't know of another facility that brings such things together.”

The center will focus on youth development, with after-school programs, sports and classes in art, music and technology. There also will be health and wellness activities and services for families, such as health education, cooking classes, yoga and life management coaching.

Woodruff said Baldwin had access to a similar type of community center growing up in Florida and it left a positive impression upon him. This is the first community center that Baldwin has backed.

Here's the project team: Baylis Architects, designer; Coughlin Porter Lundeen, structural and civil engineer; Sider + Byers, mechanical, electrical and plumbing engineer; Weisman Design Group, landscape architect; ObjectSpace, interior designer; ArchEcology, sustainability/LEED consultant; and JRS Engineering, building envelope consultant.

Woodruff said about $11 million has been raised so far, including $4 million from the city, $3 million from First Financial Northwest Foundation, $1.5 million from the state and $1 million from Baldwin's foundation. The rest has come from private donations and grants.