A new prospective public community center in Prairie Village now has an estimated price tag.
Based on cost per square foot, city staff and architects’ early estimates show a community center to replace the Paul Henson YMCA near 79th Street and Mission Road would cost nearly $50 million in today’s dollars.
When accounting for construction cost inflation, that number jumps to $55 million by December 2026, according to city documents. That figure does not take into account any contributions the YMCA would make to the project.
The ultimate $55 million cost estimate comes as the city works with the YMCA and Johnson County Library on the idea, which has been tossed around in some form for years, to co-locate a new city-owned community center and the Corinth Library branch somewhere on the city’s civic campus off Mission Road.
The $55 million estimate is only for the development of the community center because the library has its own funding to build out a new relocated Corinth branch.
City staff and architects have proposed moving forward with an option that would put a new community center on the north side of Harmon Park near the city pool, a plan that jives with feedback the city received from a public questionnaire in April.
After a lengthy discussion and hearing an update from city staff on the design process and an early cost estimate, the Prairie Village City Council on Monday asked staff to bring back more information at a future council committee meeting.
Where do things currently stand?
Prairie Village, the YMCA and Johnson County Library are in the middle of designing prospective co-located facilities in order to take the community center idea — and its cost and design — to a public vote.
Design work started following a 2023 city-commissioned survey that found most residents still say they would use a new city-owned community center, though the number of residents who said that did decrease from those who said the same thing in a 2019 survey.
On Monday, the city council heard from city staff working on the project, an architect from BNIM and a representative from the YMCA.
The city council asked city staff to come back at a future meeting with more information about possible financial outcomes and solutions to site challenges for two different location options for a co-located library and community center.
Watch the entire conversation online here, starting at time stamp 1:53:01.
The YMCA could chip in $7.5 to 10 million
The project team used the Merriam Community Center, which cost roughly $36.6 million (in 2018 dollars) to build, as a case study for how much it may cost to build a similar facility in Prairie Village.
In 2024 dollars, early estimates show the cost of a 55,000-square-foot community center would be $49.6 million, a hike due in large part to the inflation of construction costs.
The projected price tag jumps to $55.3 million by 2026, the city estimates.
Mark Hulet, the president and chief executive officer of the YMCA, told the city council on Monday that he estimates the organization to bring in a total of $7.5 to $10 million to contribute to the project.
Hulet said the YMCA estimates the donation of the current facility’s land to amount to $3 million with another $1 million in first-year operating costs from the current membership base.
The rest of the anticipated YMCA contribution would come from fundraising, and the YMCA is about halfway through a fundraising feasibility study for the project, Hulet said.
When pressed by Councilmember Terrence Gallagher about whether the YMCA would still reinvest in Prairie Village if the city backed out of funding a new community center, Hulet said the YMCA can only remain in Prairie Village if it has a partner.
Hulet said the YMCA is unable to raise the money to build a $55 million facility on its own. He said the Paul Henson facility is “literally one major capital issue away from being closed.”
“This is the answer for a community center partnership [with the] YMCA to continue to exist, and we’ve been very frank about that from the beginning,” Hulet said. He added that, “it’s a worthwhile deal, I promise you.”
What does public feedback show?
More than 1,600 people responded to the second questionnaire, either in person or online, that the city held this year, according to city documents.
The questionnaire, administered in April, asked respondents to identify one of four site options for the co-located idea, as follows:
- Option A, a co-located library and community center at the southwest part of Harmon Park
- Option B, a co-located library and community center at the northwest part of Harmon Park
- Option C, a community center and no library at the northwest part of Harmon Park
- Option D, no site changes, leaving the Paul Henson YMCA alone and requiring the Corinth Library replacement to be built somewhere else
Respondents were also asked to explain the reasoning behind their preferred site option, such as the option being the “best use of land” or the “traffic impacts.”
There were also options to select “project not needed,” “not a good use of funds,” and a space for open-ended comments.
Those who selected option D for no site changes overwhelmingly selected “project not needed” and “not a good use of funds” as their reasonings.
City documents showed that following the April public input session, positive public sentiment for a new city-owned community center was at 74%.
Mark Neibling, an architect with BNIM, told the city council on Monday that that 74% figure is from a non-statistically valid survey — the questionnaire. The positive public sentiment is gauged by the respondents who chose options A, B or C, all of which support a community center, Neibling said.
Some councilmembers questioned the validity of the data included in Monday’s presentation and whether the questionnaire results represent community sentiment.
Project team, questionnaire respondents favor north site
- Respondents to the April questionnaire favored option B, placing the community center on the northwest part of Harmon Park near the city pool.
- That option keeps the community center, library and pools in close proximity while also keeping the current Corinth branch and the current YMCA open during construction.
- Option B does impact the city pool and parking at Shawnee Mission East, and also temporarily displaces the existing tennis courts and community garden.
- The project team, including city staff, architects and representatives from the library and the YMCA, also prefer option B.
City council wants more info on financing for the YMCA partnership
Some councilmembers expressed concern about the site options not using the land where the current YMCA sits and the 74% positive public sentiment figure from city documents.
Several councilmembers also wanted to see other configurations for the south site option, specifically an option that keeps a proposed parking garage off of 79th Street. In defense of the proposed location for the parking garage, Neibling said keeping access on 79th Street accommodates the grade change on the site.
Nearly all councilmembers asked to see a proforma, or a document outlining the finances of what a community center will cost to operate and what it will bring, from the YMCA.
Councilmembers also pressed Hulet, the president of the YMCA, for answers about the current facility’s programming, current operating costs, a proforma for a new facility and fundraising for a new facility.
Councilmember Terry O’Toole recalled a 2023 meeting where the former city council pressed the YMCA, too.
“Courtney McFadden asked you a question when you said we’re doing a feasibility study and she said, ‘We started talking about this in 2019, why are you here today without having any concrete answers on what you think you can do for us?,’” O’Toole said. “We’re back here 13 months later and it’s basically the same answer: I’m going to tell you in 90 days.”
What did the city council direct staff to do?
- Councilmember Greg Shelton made a motion asking to see a proforma for options A and B.
- Shelton also asked that staff come back with solutions for the parking and other site challenges for option B, as well as how much it would cost to regrade the site to make option A work with the library and community center on 79th Street.
- The city council approved the motion in a 11-0 vote. Councilmember Tyler Agniel was absent.
Next steps:
- City staff will work to bring back the proformas and other information requested by the city council at a future meeting.
- The project team is also still working toward a third public meeting, at which point the plan is to present the public with concept renderings and a more refined cost.
- City staff said the goal is to conduct a mail-in vote in the first quarter of 2025.
Go deeper: Prairie Village still wants public’s input on community center idea — Here’s where things stand
Editor’s note: Councilmember Greg Shelton is the husband of Post Publisher Jay Senter’s sister.
