City looks to line up design, construction team for convention center

Dan Smith: CMAR model right choice for complexity of convention center project.

Springfield City Council approved a construction manager at risk model for the downtown Springfield Regional Convention & Event Center project at its Aug. 11 meeting.

A request for quotations for the CMAR is scheduled to be released on Aug. 19, a week after the council’s declaration of its intention to use the model, according to city spokesperson Cora Scott.

Additionally, on Aug. 12, the city announced an invitation for qualified teams to send statements of qualifications for architectural work for the project.

The city has set a brisk pace for the convention center project, having heard a report of the consulting Chicago-based Hunden Partners’ recommendation of a downtown facility just five weeks before the council meeting on July 8.

At the City Council meeting, Dan Smith, director of Public Works, said the CMAR model suits the complexity of the project. 

“As we’ve looked at the convention center project – the complexity of it, the scale and the speed at which we need to move – the determination has been made that the construction manager at risk project delivery method is really the one that would give us the best end product,” he said. 

Smith said state statute requires the city to declare its intention to use a CMAR method publicly, and the council action satisfies that requirement. 

Missouri revised statute defines a CMAR as an entity that assumes the risk for a project at a contracted price as a general contractor while providing consultation to the political entity during and after design of the project. 

City spokesperson Cora Scott said a request for a quotation for a CMAR is anticipated to be issued on Aug. 18. Missouri statute allows municipalities to advertise for a CMAR a week after the choice of the method is declared. 

On the architectural front, the city issued a news release about its call for a multidisciplinary design team to include architects, interior designers, engineers and other subject matter experts to provide full design services for the project.

The announcement notes the center is envisioned as a catalyst for downtown growth and would feature exhibit halls, ballrooms, meeting rooms, parking and on-site gathering spaces. The design must meet or exceed LEED Silver certification standards.

Design team statements of qualifications are required in PDF format by 4 p.m. Aug. 28, with a presubmittal meeting set for Aug. 19 in the Busch Municipal Building or via videoconference.

Also at its Aug. 11 meeting, council authorized a $30 million appropriation from the city’s Spring Forward half-cent sales tax revenue as a one-to-one local match for funding from the state of Missouri for the development of the convention center. 

Council had heard a July 8 report from Chicago-based consultant Hunden Partners recommending a convention center and hotel downtown and began moving instantly to act on that recommendation. That center is projected to generate $1.3 billion in net new visitor spending over a 30-year period, as well as $68.7 million in net new fiscal impact in the same period. 

The Citizens’ Advisory Board, which makes recommendations on the use of the Spring Forward tax funding, voted unanimously July 30 to put this year’s estimated tax receipts entirely toward the convention center match.