KINGSTON REGIONAL SPORTS & ENTERTAINMENT CENTRE ARCHIVE

Archive: Summary - Design/Build RFP

Issuing the Request for Proposals (RFP) for the Design/Build of the Large Venue Entertainment Centre is a key milestone in the project. The chosen Design/Build team will be responsible for providing Kingston with an elite sports and entertainment facility that serves the community for the next 50 years.

Kingston's downtown sports and entertainment facility will be designed and built to meet the quality of the John Labatt Centre in London - a world class entertainment facility, a home to an Ontario Hockey League team and a venue for trade shows and events.

The RFP for the Design/Build of the Large Venue Entertainment Centre has been prepared based on the Business Plan approved by Council on May 3, 2005. Proposals will only be accepted from the four qualified proponents that were short-listed from the Request for Information process in November, 2005.

The teams short-listed for Design/Build of the Large Venue Entertainment Centre are:

• Ball Construction and PBK Architects
• Ellis Don Construction and Brisbin Brook Beynon Architects
• Giffels Construction and Norr Architects
• PCL Construction and Parkin Architects and Rossetti Associates

EVALUATION CRITERIA

These proponents have been asked to submit their proposals which will be evaluated on specified criteria. Staff will use these criteria to compare and evaluate each submission. The criteria and scoring are outlined in the table below:

Some of the key elements of the criteria are further described as follows:

• The management plan will identify the project team specialists and how this group of specialists will work together as the project progresses.
• The project schedule will identify key project milestones based on the City's project timelines of awarding the contract to the successful proponent on May 24, 2006, a construction start date of July 17, 2006 and a completed facility prior to the first public event on December 15, 2007.
• The site plan will illustrate how the site will be situated within the surrounding streetscape. In order to keep within project timelines proponents will be required to provide information necessary to complete a site plan application.
• The building design will include the building's massing and scale, exterior treatment, construction material, floor plans and a model of the facility.
• A traffic and parking study is being completed by IBI Consultants for the City of Kingston and is not part of these submissions.
• The facility design must enhance the urban fabric of the area. The building must reflect historic Kingston construction materials while demonstrating a fresh and dynamic approach that complements future development in the North Block area. The architectural firm that provided Design Guidelines for the North Block study has provided guidelines to ensure the finished building complements and creates new potential for the downtown.
• One of the City's top objectives is to ensure new City facilities are constructed in an environmentally sustainable manner. LEED, Leadership in Environmental and Energy Design, is listed in the criteria as proponents will not only be asked to design the building to achieve the highest possible LEED rating but also provide a cost benefit analysis of achieving a LEED Silver designation. The RFP requests that proposals are based on a basic design (not LEED certified) and that an incremental cost be provided for the LEED Silver design.
• The proposed price will represent a firm lump sum price for the proposed design, construction and commissioning of the Large Venue Entertainment Centre. Costs will be managed within the project including contingencies for any changes requested by the City.

DESIGN ELEMENTS

In a Design/Build process the facility requirements are provided in a general context. The advantage of the Design/Build process is that proponents are allowed to use much more creativity in the design to meet the facility requirements.

The specifications have been created based on experience gained from other sports and entertainment facilities including the John Labatt Centre in London, Ontario and include:

• one NHL size ice surface,
• restaurant,
• concessions,
• three meeting rooms,
• 15 washrooms,
• a Hall of Fame,
• a pro shop,
• press box,
• broadcast booths and media room,
• eight dressing rooms, including two celebrity dressing rooms.

Many of the design features necessary for the entertainment aspects of the facility are not specified in the RFP. A budget allowance has been made for the catwalk, flygrid and retractable scoreboard. It will be necessary for this pricing to be provided before finalizing the contract.

The Large Venue Entertainment Centre will include:

• 5000 base seats
• 400 club seats
• 280 private box seats
• 200 standing
• Two party suites that will provide total seating for 50

The restaurant will seat 300. Proponents will be asked to provide an incremental price to include 6,000 base seats. Council can then choose the preferred configuration of 5,000 or 6,000 seats.

This option has been included for a number of reasons. The City would like to ensure that the 6,000 seat configuration is able to be achieved within a reasonable cost. Other cities, such as London, chose the higher number of seats as this option provided more flexibility in programming events at a very low incremental cost.

HONORARIUM

The level of effort in the preparation of a Design/Build proposal is extensive. Given the significance of this signature building, staff is asking Council to consider offering a $50,000 honorarium to each of the unsuccessful proponents who achieve a significant score during the evaluation process. This honorarium is important to encourage competitive proposals. The more effort that is spent at the early stage in the preparation of the Design/Build, the less uncertainty there is later in the project.

The honorarium will ensure that the short-listed proponents submit detailed proposals that are price competitive, thereby providing the City of Kingston with the best possible project for the best price overall. Several municipalities including the City of Toronto and the City of Ottawa as well as the Regions of Peel and Niagara have utilized honoraria for significant design/build projects.

NEXT STEPS

It is common practice during an RFP process for proponents not to be permitted to have contact with members of Council either directly or indirectly. In early May, Council and the public will be invited to an open house and provided with an opportunity to view the designs of the proposed building. All of the selected proponents will display a model of their design and provide a written summary of their proposal for Council and the public. Members of Council may also like to take this opportunity to speak to the proponents one-on-one.

The following schedule outlines key dates in the RFP process.

As a next step in the LVEC project, staff will prepare a Financing Plan and forward it to Council by the end of March, 2006.

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