McHenry —
MCHENRY — More than two months after its groundbreaking ceremony, construction still hasn’t begun on Garrett College’s $23 million Community Athletic and Recreation Center.
Officials say the permitting process has held up construction, which was said to be starting any day when the groundbreaking was held April 21.
“I guess when you have to get a lot of permits, I would call it a normal delay,” said Josephine Gilman, dean of administration and finance at the college. “The groundbreaking was sort of ceremonial. We had to wait for the storm water permit for the county, and that took another month or so. And then we had to wait for the construction permit.”
Gilman said the college received a permit for the pool from the state health department Monday. That allowed the project architects to go to the county for the final construction permit, which she hopes will be issued by the end of the week.
That’s the last permit required before actual construction can begin, she said.
The planned project will occur in two phases. The first consists of constructing a 32,000-square-foot aquatics center complete with two indoor swimming pools, a fitness facility and a physical therapy facility to be run by Garrett County Memorial Hospital.
The second phase will round out the complex with a 34,000-square-foot gymnasium containing three regulation-size basketball courts and seating for about 1,600 spectators, with room to seat another 400 on the floor for special events such as graduations.
Funding for the project came from a $15.5 million contribution from the state, with a county contribution of $7.5 million.
The permitting delays will change the timeframe for completion of the project, Gilman said. She estimated that the first phase should be finished sometime in September 2011.
That shouldn’t cause any contractual complications with either the architecture firm, Grimm and Parker Architects, or the contractor, Hess, she added.
Contact Megan Miller at mmiller@times-news.com.
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