Coliseum work could begin in about 2 weeks

The major makeover for the Rapides Parish Coliseum is expected to begin in about two weeks.

The Police Jury on Wednesday unanimously approved an agreement with the city of Alexandria, allowing the Coliseum renovation work to begin. The City Council unanimously signed off on the deal on Tuesday.

The $22.9 million renovation project will get under way near the end of this month — about a year after the Coliseum held its last event and about two-and-a-half years after voters approved a bond issue to fund the work.

The Police Jury met in special session Wednesday to accept the agreement which calls for the jury to pay the city $1.1 million to gain full ownership of property currently jointly owned with the city at the Coliseum.

The property is needed for parking as part of the renovation project, which is expected to take 20 to 22 months to complete once work begins.

“It’s a great feeling,” Police Jury President Richard Billings said of having the agreement approved by both the city and the parish so the renovation project can begin.

“I think it’s going to be a wonderful project. I think the citizens in Rapides Parish will be proud of it,” Billings said.

The agreement says the Police Jury will pay the city $1.1 million in a lump sum and provide the city clear ownership of 0.833 of an acre at the Coliseum where the city has water wells and a communications tower.

In return, the Police Jury will get clear ownership of 15.738 acres of land that is currently jointly owned by the parish and the city.

The agreement ends a months-long dispute between the city and the parish over the parking lot property. Its approval by the Police Jury was met with applause from the audience Wednesday.

Alexandria Mayor Jacques Roy said, “I look forward to a fully renovated structure and the promise it brings to voters. Our recreation department will work hard to line up events and help create a return on our citizens’ investment.”

Some paperwork and technical requirements still remain, such as the city advertising the ordinance approving the deal and waiting to make sure it’s not challenged in court during the 10-day time frame for such challenges.

Billings said he will sign a check for $1.1 million to give to the city when the agreement is finalized.

City officials are expected to consider using that money for the city’s riverfront development plan known as the R.I.V.E.R. Act and the project to relocate the Central Louisiana Technical Community College to downtown Alexandria.

After the Police Jury meeting, Billings met with Bill Tudor of Alliance Design Group, the architectural firm for the renovation project, and signed the draft building permit. Tudor said the general contractor, Ratcliff Construction Co., will take that — along with the permit fee of about $45,000 — to the city Planning Division to get its official permit that will be posted at the job site.

Tudor said officials need to wait out the challenge period for the agreement. Also, the city has to run a new legal advertisement on its ordinance for the agreement.

“About two weeks from today, we can expect to see equipment out there on the site and the contractor ready to get going,” Tudor said.

The first phase of the renovation will be demolition/removal of some existing facilities. A ground-breaking ceremony will be held just prior to start of work, Billings said.

“We’re excited about this today that we were able to purchase the property and move forward,” Juror Joe Bishop said. “This is going to benefit the entire parish of Rapides.”

Juror Scott Perry said, “I’m glad it’s finally becoming a reality.”

He said the renovated Coliseum will “enhance tourism and economic development.”

Some City Council members were on hand at Wednesday’s jury meeting, just as some police jurors had attended Tuesday’s council meeting.

Council members attending Wednesday included Jules Green, who said, “I am certainly pleased. This is a great day for the city of Alexandria, a great movement for the parish of Rapides, and that great minds finally came together.”

He also thinks a higher power was involved in resolution of the issue.

“Certainly I want to give God the glory to honor and direct everybody’s path, their steps, their minds and to resolve and rectify this problem,” Green said.

“I think it’s great for Rapides Parish and Central Louisiana,” said Councilman Roosevelt Johnson, who also was at the jury meeting. “We’re going to have a great facility, one that’s going to attract all sorts of events and programs.”

In addition to approving the agreement, the jury agreed to suspend court proceedings in its lawsuits against the city over the Coliseum parking lot dispute. The lawsuits will be dropped when the agreement is fully in place.

Bishop said an auction will be held “to dispose of the material that’s been there at the Coliseum for years” and make way for the renovation.

The $1.1 million that will be paid to the city will come from money that otherwise would have gone to the renovation.

“We’re working actively with the contractor to find all the cost savings we can to help offset that as much as possible,” Tudor said.

“But obviously our wish list is always longer than the money available so what it is, is getting the most value and doing the value engineering that’s needed to get the maximum sugar for the dime.”