The Brownwood City Council, during Tuesday morning’s meeting, approved a conceptual study for the Bennie Houston Recreation Center, located at 505 Cordell Street, by BSW Architects out of Dallas for a maximum expense of $40,000.

“It’s the first step in the right direction,” Brownwood Mayor Stephen Haynes said during the meeting. “We’ve talked about our City facilities and trying to bring them up to current standards and the Bennie Houston Center is certainly one that is in need of some improvements or remodeling.”

The City Council budgeted $100,000 to go toward improvements of the Bennie Houston Center but upon further review, the Council and City staff agree that the facility needs to be replaced. Options from extensive renovations to demolition and construction of a new facility are currently on the table.

With that in mind, the City recommended seeking community input and consider the possible recreation needs that could be met in a new facility. BSW Architects has provided a proposal for a conceptual study for the BHC. It includes community and council input, site analysis, and up to three conceptual designs and projected costs.

The work would be completed in 120 days, and should the City move forward with the project with BSW the $40,000 cost would be credited toward the full design contract. Staff has reviewed BSW’s reference list and work in other cities with similar projects.

The timeline allows the City to have options for the BHC while planning next fiscal year’s budget. The funds for the conceptual study will come from the Parks and Rec capital budget. At this point, about $2,000 has been spent for an asbestos survey. The remediation is estimated to be about $40,000 but most likely that will not occur this fiscal year.