Design work on the proposed renovation of Hulman Center and adding an adjoining new convention center is 45 percent complete, but funding for the $75 million project remains at a standstill.
Rob Proctor, principal with Ratio Architects, told the Vigo County Capital Improvement Board Wednesday that of the $75 million for the total project, $59.5 million would go toward construction costs.
Renovation of the existing Hulman Center accounts for about $20 million, with about $25 million for a new, adjoining convention center and another $15 million in costs to be shared by both projects, he said.
Proctor showed the board a short video representing a three-dimensional vision of what the completed project could entail.
He told the board getting the project out to bid as soon as possible would keep costs down and allow the project design to remain.
Delays, he said, would mean a reduction in the project’s scope, the end result of which is intended to be a draw for downtown Terre Haute and to spur future development.
“We have gone about as far as we can go [as far as design],” Proctor said. The firm has done what it can with its current knowledge of kitchen, dock and delivery needs but would need more information on operations before going much further, he said.
“We are on hold currently, pending your direction,” he told the board.
The CIB also debated whether a 5-2 vote in November requires hiring of the Nation Group under a contract for as much as $2 million. Nation Group would serve as a project facilitator and seek a company to operate the enhanced facility It would also lobby for funding.
While the board previously voted to move forward on that pact, CIB member Daniel Bradley, president of Indiana State University, said the board should review a contract for Nation Group and an existing request-for-proposal for a facility operator.
Vigo Commissioner President Judith Anderson said it will be the Nation Group’s task to find a company to operate the enhanced facility.
Proctor told the board its plans do not now include the roughly $2 million the majority of the board would dedicate for hiring of Nations Group.
“What we don’t have in that budget is a larger consultant. If we add another sizable consultant, we probably need to at least reconsider some scope of work here,” Proctor said.
Proctor asked if the CIB “can really do a $75 million project? It is pretty exciting, and we would love to see you guys do this. It would be a game-changer for the community and the region.”
CIB member Greg Goode, also of ISU, asked if Ratio Architects have a “Plan B or Plan C.” Proctor said the design can be “simplified and [made] more ordinary” with a redesign of dock areas.
Proctor told the board time is important.
“As you begin to fight against time .. for every year that goes by on a project ... with a fixed cost at the end, you basically are losing a couple of million dollars of scope that will slip out of the project each year we wait,” he said.
After the meeting, CIB member and Terre Haute businessman Greg Gibson said funding is the top concern.
“Funding is still a challenge and there is no doubt about that. We have a $12 million or so funding gap we have to overcome and we are looking for ways we can overcome that,” Gibson said.
The plan for the project calls for $37.5 million to come from the state and an equal amount to come from local sources, namely the city, the county and the Convention and Visitors Bureau. The state money has been appropriated — but not released — while local-source commitments total only about $26 million, leaving the project roughly $11.5 million to $12 million short.
A renovated Hulman Center along with a new convention center could generate an estimated $334.7 million in additional economic activity in the next 30 years, according to projections.
Also Wednesday, the board decided to seek a new attorney. It has been using Richard Hill, an attorney with Faegre Baker Daniels.
Board members said Hill has to travel from South Bend, which is costly. The CIB has paid the firm $250,000 in attorney fees to date.
The CIB is now considering hiring an attorney with Barnes & Thornburg, a law firm that helped a capital improvement board that oversaw development of Lucas Oil Stadium in Indianapolis.
The board is next scheduled to meet July 3.