Parks Dept. looks to move forward with new, scaled-back Dougherty Arts Center

The replacement for the deteriorating Dougherty Arts Center will move forward in a phased approach, without the underground parking called for previously by City Council, in an attempt to dramatically reduce the cost of the new facility.

During the Tuesday work session, Council heard a presentation from Parks and Recreation Department Director Kim McNeeley detailing how the cost of constructing a new, 45,000-square-foot arts center in the Butler Shores Park area had grown to $61 million in recent years, an increase of more than $30 million from what was originally planned more than a decade ago. Much of that cost increase was from Council’s direction in 2019 to include underground parking and integrate as much infrastructure as possible with neighboring facilities including the Zach Scott Theatre.

Inflationary pressures that have increased the cost of most construction projects have also added an estimated $6 million to the Dougherty rebuild. McNeeley noted options such as public-private partnerships, philanthropy and the issuance of debt to cover the increased costs, but none of those options came close to reaching the $61 million mark. That leaves the roughly $28 million remaining from a pair of bond votes supporting creative facilities as the only funding available.

“We did try to reiterate (in 2021) that all of the direction that was being provided would absolutely increase the costs of this particular program, and that we didn’t have additional funding,” McNeeley said. “We also explored the issuance of debt, certificates of obligation, and the most that we have ever received in certificates of obligation, being as fiscally responsible as possible, was $3.3 million. … Asking for $30 million in certificates of obligation just was not feasible, nor did I believe it was fiscally responsible.”

The recommendation McNeeley presented to Council is to redesign the new Dougherty Arts Center without the underground parking and construct it in a way that would allow for expansions funded through future bond elections, the soonest of which is expected to take place in 2026.

“We could add phases and if we weren’t able to meet all of the needs of the community for the Dougherty Arts Center in a single design, we would be able to ask for funding in 2026 or bond programs beyond that. But we would have a usable space at the time when construction was completed with the original $28 million that we’ve received.”

Council Member Alison Alter asked if any of the property that will be available with the city’s expected purchase of the former Tokyo Electron Ltd. campus in East Austin could be suitable for the new Dougherty, including surface-level parking, but McNeeley said surveys with supporters of the center have shown the greatest support comes from keeping the facility in or near the core of the city.

Council Member Ryan Alter questioned McNeeley on the need to redesign the building before moving forward. She responded that the engineering on the current design had assumed the ground underneath the center would be occupied by a parking structure, which likely would have affected how some structural elements of the building were situated.

Council took no action on McNeeley’s recommendation. She said they would be updated via internal memos and future presentations on the progress of the new building.

Interim City Manager Jesús Garza advised Council to let McNeeley and the city’s staff related to major construction projects move forward with the scaled-back plan unless their input was requested in the future.

“This project was allowed to escalate beyond our means, and hence we have a facility that’s substandard and we haven’t been able to get going,” he said. “I would want to caution the Council not to begin to redesign it from the dais, and then we end up having … the same story all over and over again.”

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