8.0. HANDOUT 1 PRSR 06-08-2016 ELK RIVER COMMUNITY CENTER
CONCEPTUAL SOLUTIONS
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—^nKn 28 SITE ANALYSIS
ELK RIVER COMMUNITY CENTER
CONCEPTUAL SOLUTIONS
NEW BUILDING SITE OPTIONS:
SITE ANALYSIS
The process of selecting a proposed site suitable for a new facility began with the completion of finalizing the program of spatial
needs for the project. Using this program information as the guildeline for what would shape a new facility,we were able to determine the
approximate amount of space a site would require in order to contain a building sized to meet the program needs as well as support the
parking requirements a facility of that size would need. The total available site area needed for this project is around 10 acres (building
footprint plus parking lot and exterior support space). Narrowing in on acceptabel sites within the City of Elk River proved to be challenging
based on some of the unique attributes that shape the city. Identifying sites that met the size requirement but also worked around mutliple
rail lines,two significant vehicle arterial roads(MN State Highway 10,MN State Highway 101/169)as well as the Mississippi River made the
site selection process even more difficult.
Through discussion with the Steering Committee, the process began by looking at six or seven various sites scattered around the Elk River
community. The initial criteria for narrowing down the number of potential sites was largely based upon a potential site's size(with the target
of 10 acres) and also whether or not the potential site already had existing city service infrastructure (sewer,water, gas, electrical services).
Using these two primary criterion, the design team and the Steering Committee were able to shortlist the number of potential sites down
to four: Oak Knoll Athletic Complex, Pinewood Golf Course, Lion's Park, and Orono Park/Athletic Complex. These four sites were then
anaylzed on a more in-depth level that started with the design team generating some conceptual site layout options, or "bubble diagrams"
that focused on the main program elements of the potential building and how they could be organized on each potential site. Once these
conceptual layouts were developed the options were discussed in depth with the Steering Committee. The more detailed anaylsis at this point
included factors such as site access,vehicular and pedestrian circulation,building orientation, building visibility,overall site location within the
city, relocation of existing site amenities,as well as some additional characteristics unique to individual sites.
The following pages contain the overall summaries of each of the four shortlisted sites,including the conceptual layout option diagrams,along
with a breakdown of the pros and cons of each site,as discussed through multiple meeting sessions with the Steering Committee. There are
very likely other factors that may be considered for each site option however items listed were believed to be the most critical and influential
in analyzing when trying to determine the most suitable site for a new facility, as agreed upon by the design team and steering committee.
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l?k ANA!YSIS 29
ELK RIVER COMMUNITY CENTER
CONCEPTUAL SOLUTIONS
SITE OPTION 1 :
OAK KNOLL
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OAK KNOLL } _
liver
ATHLETIC COMPLEX
1 I i,00 Orono Parkway N.W
The Oak Knoll site,although being large enough to handle the proposed program building footprint and required parking, has an
additional list of challenges that make it one of the least preferred options by the design team and Steering Committee. The initial challenge
for this site is trying to locate a building and parking lots while trying to have the least impact on the existing ballfields currently on the
site. The Option 1 concept would require relocating a number of fields (with some belonging to the district) at a proposed cost of around
$700,000*. Option 2 would manage to retain the existing Varsity baseball field but will still carry an approximate cost of$500,000*to rebuild
the youth fields elsewhere. One positive of this site is that it is somewhat centrally located in town and also located at a close proximty to a
number of schools, including the Elk River High School. The site has adequate access with potential for two access points and intersections
with exsiting stoplights. There is potential for decent building visiblity on Proctor Avenue with Option 1,however Option 2,although retaining
the vasrsity baseball field,would push the new facility and parking further from the main access street. Other large drawbacks for the Oak
Knoll site inlcude the unpleasant surroundings on largely 3 sides of the site. These include a main railway on the south and west sides of the
site as well as a number of unsighlty city maintenance structures and lots, including the compost site, immediately north of the potential site.
Taking into account these factors as well as the issue of potentially displacing school district fields, the Oak Knoll site is not a viable option
for a potential new city facility.
* Proposed cost figures are based on the cost to reconstruct ballfields of similar size and scope, on new green field sites that are fairly level
and ready to develop for this purpose. Costs also do not include land acquisition costs. It was discussed that the city would likely have land
available if needed to relocate existing ballfields.
30 SITE ANALYSIS
ELK RIVER COMMUNITY CENTER
CONCEPTUAL SOLUTIONS
OAK KNOLL OPTION 1 :.r. .
PROCTOR RD NW
PARKING
PARKING 11
RAKING\ •RINK 2- R 3 y LOCKERS I
4 LOBBY
RWKt
MULTI
*MMONS RPOSE
ENIORS- ;`CT � KITCHEN
BANQUET LI
Ii
PARKING
SCHOOL ST NW
OAK KNOLL OPTION 2
PROCTOR RD NW
PARKING]
A
RINK 2- 'INK 3
•
LOCKERS Ty}•
LOBBY
3/ o
RINK T COMMONS ';.. _ . ... ._.•. ¢a
"14'SENIORS
MEETING �.- ,.�
BANQUET E \-/0.4./
/
NT-5
KITCHEN
MULTI-
PURPOSE PARKING/
SCHOOL ST NW
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31 �. .t,
ELK RIVER COMMUNITY CENTER
CONCEPTUAL SOLUTIONS
SITE OPTION 2:
PINEWOOD GOLF COURSE
•
- • PIN1,1 OO!
The Pinewood Golf Course site made the shortlist of sites as it is a large parcel of land that the city already owns, and also has
existing infrastructure and services on or near the site. The biggest hurdle with the Pinewood site is that,althoug it is a large parcel of land,
it is bisected by a residential street, meaning that the parcel is not contiguous but rather broken into two parts. The two conceptual layout
options explored using the southernmost section as it is the larger of the two. Being that the land is two smaller halves, it makes fitting the
required building footprint and parking onto one section rather tight. The resulting building would encroach quite close to the existing
residential neighborhood propoerties. The fact that the project would need to be shoehorned onto the land makes the Pinewood site a poor
candidate for a potential site. Other negatives to this site include the fact that is is the farthest site from the center of the community and the
project here would not fit in well with the surrounding buildings. One positive aspect of the site is that since it rests on a corner,the site could
have multiple access points which would be convenient for vehicles and pedestrians. However with the residential neighborhood consuming
the west and north borders of the site any large building here would really only be able to put its main entrance facing east as shown in the
option 1 layout. This layout works well for the entry but does not fit in well with the angular border of the residential neighborhood. Option
2 better aligns with the residential neighborhood but faces the primary entrance and community spaces toward the southeast,which would
reduce their visibilty from the north and reduce the effective accessibility.
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n"a 32 SITE ANALYSIS
ELK RIVER COMMUNITY CENTER
CONCEPTUAL SOLUTIONS
PINEWOOD GC OPTION 1
I
m
182ND AVENUE NW
A
PARKING i
PARIUNG
LOCKERS
i RINK 2 J
RINK
3 RINK 1 124lumBy.""."..� COMMONS
SEMORSn � BANOUET
� MULh
, NalPURPOSE
KRCFEN
pwassomot MISSISSIPPI ROAD NW
100'7
701) X 50'
PINEWOOD GC OPTION 2
In
y
182ND AVENUE NW
x MI
\LOCKERS\\\
3 \•
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\
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RINK 1'/i
COMMONS
BANQUET
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■ �'�"`,/C�,� PURPOSE
KITCHEN
\ SENIORS
T .. PARKING I Il PARKING I
w t.
MISSISSIPPI ROAD NW
�� 1W
200' SO'
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33 Qeh
ELK RIVER COMMUNITY CENTER
CONCEPTUAL SOLUTIONS
SITE OPTION 3:
LION'S PARK
The Lion's Park site is a very valuable piece of land for the city. It is the most centrally located site for the community and is in
very close proximity to existing schools, churches, and other amenities. The site has a well developed trail system and offers some of the
community's most desireable green space. The existing pond and green space on the site offer great opportunities for desirable views from
a potential new facility,especially for the senior and community spaces. This opportunity is better reflected in the Option 2 layout for this site,
where the building is laid out in a linear fashion, parrallel to the pond to allow as many spaces in the building a good view. Both options are
sited to have the primary entrance facing eastward. This site also has great opportunities for vehicular and pedestrian access and circualtion.
Vehicle access to the building could occur from both School Street on the north and Jackson Avenue on the west. Both layout options are
shown to capitalize on this flow of traffic. Each option takes advatage of the large ice sheet volumes being placed on the north west which
would help buffer the colder northwest winter winds from the rest of the building and the entrance side. Locating the ice program spaces
on the north side of the building also offers some convenience for access to student athletes coming from the schools directly to the north of
the site.
The Lion's Park Site does come with one major drawback that cannot be overlooked. The existing soils are predominantly peat and ultimately
are considered unable to carry the loads of a modern building. Using previously recorded soil data,the unsuitable soils vary in depth from 8'
to 12'feet,which equates to a cost of approximately$1.5 million to mitigate the poor soil and replace with fill material suitable for supporting
a building. The site is also know for having a very high water table, causing historic site drainage issues as well as sewer backup issues at
the existing Lion's Park Center facility. Another concern for this site is the fact that it's central location and proximty to schools and other
amenities mean that there is a greater volume of traffic on the adjacent roads at multiple times of the day wihch can pose a challenge in
terms of facility access, especially for the senior populatoin.
Although the Lion's Park site boasts a number of strong attributes for a potential facility, and two options presented both have some
advantageuous characteristics, our reccomendation would be to avoid building on this site due to the poor and unreliable soil conditions.
Even undergoing a costly soils correction process still will not mitigate the risks of the soil and water conditions on this site. The risk of this
site is extremely high, especially when one considers that one of the predominant program items of the building is multiple ice sheets,which
require extremely flat and techincally designed and constructed slabs and subgrade. Building on this site could compromise the long term
performance of the building components and result in costly corrections in the future.
ry
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34 SITE ANALYSIS
ELK RIVER COMMUNITY CENTER
CONCEPTUAL SOLUTIONS
LIONS PARK OPTION 1 SCHOOL ST NW ..._—. _ - r. . ,
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imon 100'as
200 X50'
LIONS PARK OPTION 2 SCHOOL ST.NW
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IMMINNEN 100 on
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rNAL\I
35 Ill
ELK RIVER COMMUNITY CENTER
CONCEPTUAL SOLUTIONS
SITE OPTION 4:
ORONO PARK ,,, 7,_. Ar i
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Elk,
Rive
ORONO PARE
18559 Gary Strew:
The Orono Park site offers a great multitude of opportunity for a potential new facility in many regards. Although it is not as
centrally located as Lion's Park, it is largely accessible by vehilces and pedestrians alike,with access to Highway Ten from both Joplin Street
and Gary Street. The site is located directly adjacent to Lake Orono and would have access to the park amenities currently in place at
the beachside Orono Park, as well as future pedestrian access from the city's trail system. Access to the site will be more improved in the
future when a new Highway Ten overpass is complete, better connecting the portions of the city south and north of the current highway.
The Orono Park site also provides convenient proximity to other existing city owned community buildings including City Hall, The Library,
Police/Fire Department,and the YMCA. Locating the facility here would continue to develop a'campus' of city owned and ran community
buildings.
Perhaps the greatest advantage to this site is it's proximty to Orono Park and Lake Orono. This could be captured in the facility by taking
advantage of the views eastward toward the lake and even including some outdoor spaces off the building(patios or gardens)that could tie
the building to it's adjacent exterior community spaces. Both concept options 1 and 2 would provide views of the lake from the community
and commons spaces. The sites flatness and expansiveness make it prime and ready for building construction which could save money on site
development costs,as well as provide opportunities in the future for other development on or near the site(including open area to the south,
and the existing county fairground property to the east). The existing openness on the site and adjacent fairgrounds could also save money
upfront by allowing the potential for the new facility to use exsisting open space for large event parking. The fact that the site doesn't have
a lot of existing constraints translates to multiple opportunities and options for orienting the facility. Option 1 explores the idea of aligning a
main entry commons to be focused on the Lake as one enters the building. The negative to this is that it puts the largest and tallest volumes
of the building (the ice spaces) on the south side of the building thus shading the entry during the winter months. Option 2 is optimally sited
with a south facing entry wihch capitalizes on the southern daylight and exposure in the winter months but would still allow the commons
and the community spaces views of the lake and park to the east. The openness around the building provides greater opportunity in laying
out the parking, building access and drop-off points.
36 SITE ANALYSIS
ELK RIVER COMMUNITY CENTER
CONCEPTUAL SOLUTIONS
ORONO PARK OPTION 1
okA SENIORS
pPOA� PARKING PARKING PARKING I ,.---MULTI-
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imomme 100 ion
700' SMO'
ORONO PARK OPTION 2
PARKING -1
oRo�OPopo /' — RINII 2'; LAKE ORONO
/ , I 1 SENIORS
`RING
I-- MULTI-PURPOSE
'1 LOCKERS ) —KITCHEN
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RINK 1 1
PARKING
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W LOBBY 1J
¢ COMMONS
6 PARKING
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200' X50'
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37 a nnxh
ELK RIVER COMMUNITY CENTER
CONCEPTUAL SOLUTIONS
SITE OPTION 4: , -
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ORONO PARK (cont.) „itepoolosigo_
1
1
1
The Orono Park site, although having a wealth of support for being the preferred site of a potential new facility, does have one
primary drawback. This drawback however can be viewed as an additional opportunity for the city and community of Elk River. Currently
the Orono Park is home to the Dave Anderson Softball Field complex, which is an array of 4 softball fields complete with lighting,bleachers
seating and support buildings and a gravel parking lot. If the Orono Park site were selected to be the future home of a new Community
Center facility this complex would need to be relocated. Preliminary budget estimates determined a cost of approximately $1.2 million*
to recreate the existing facility at a new site. The proposed location for the Dave Anderson complex to move would be the current Youth
Athletic Complex (YAC) located in the southeast portion of the city. Relocating the complex would vprovide a new opportunity for the
community to have access to newer, better constructed fields, dugouts, and support buildings. The YAC site also provides opportunity to
create an additional fifth field to better serve the community and accommodate larger tournament and competitive events. Relocating the
existing Dave Anderson softball fields to the YAC site not only provides immediate opportunity for improved community field space, but
would be another piece in the overall development of the YAC site in becoming one of the premiere atheltic complexes in the region.
Proposed cost figure is based on the cost to reconstruct ballfields of similar size and scope,on a new green field site that is fairly level and
ready to develop for this purpose.
SITE ANALYSIS SUMMARY
Through the process of analyzing and studying conceptual layouts at each site option and at-length discussion with the Steering
Commmittee, it is reccommended that the best site for a future potential Community Center facility be the Orono Park site. The Oak Knoll
site and the Pinewood site would both accomodate a new facility adequately, however both these sites have limited opportunity based on
location,site surrounding character,and limited building/site layout opportunity. Both the Lion's Park site and the Orono Park site have strong
support as options for housing a future facility,including site access,site surroundings and character,and layout opportunities. However the
greatest detractor for the Lion's Park site is the unstable soil and subsurface water conditions. Due to these known issues and unpredictability
of how soil corrections would perform over time, the risk of investing a large sum of money on a new facility at this site is too great. The
Orono Park site is therefore the location with the most opportunity for a long-term successful building project, with great site access and
surrounding amenities,and would be a step in developing a strong complex of community buildings and park space in this part of the city.
The reloaction of the Dave Anderson fields also becomes a new opportunity to provide an additional asset to the community in new and
improved ball fields, and further development of a strong Youth Athletic Complex.
38 SITE ANALYSIS
ELK RIVER COMMUNITY CENTER
CONCEPTUAL SOLUTIONS
The concept diagram at right shows a ....
potential layout for relocating the Dave
Anderson softball fields to the current YAC A166th AVE. NW
site. Access to the site could come from PARKING
165th Avenue or 161st Avenue. The new ExISTING
layout could add a fifth field as well as SOCCER
' FIELD
paved parking and drives,and necessary
support structures for the new fields.
' EXISTING
FIELDS
EXISTING
FIELDS
•
I
I:
RELOCATED DAVE
ANDERSON FIELDS
•4 LIGHTED 300'SOFTBALL FIELDS,
•DUGOUTS AT EACH FIELD
•BLEACHER SEATING
•CONCESSIONS/RESTRODMS
PARKING
4! 4!• � 4. 4l � .r 41� .I1r.
SUPPORT 161st AVE. NW
BUILDING
LOCATION FOR 5TH
SOFTBALL FIELD
a
YOUTH ATHLETIC COMPLEX
200' M
400' 100'
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SITE ANAL 39 ach"K'•