PRESQUE ISLE, Maine — Councilors have selected an Auburn-based firm for the next phase of design for the proposed Community Center.
City Manager Jim Bennett presented a memo to councilors at their March 3 meeting explaining why Mark Carter, of North Peak Architecture, would not be continuing on the project at this time.
“The City Council engaged North Peak (Mark Carter) to design the Community Center. The city entered into a contract with the firm to complete Phase 1 of the work. Phase 1 was essentially known as the schematic design phase — or 10 percent complete. At the end of the phase, the city accepted the work and initiated the fund-raising effort. No further work was authorized on the design,” noted Bennett.
Speaking at the council meeting, Bennett said “Mark has gotten busy and won’t be able to get back to our project for at least a year.”
Bennett said he and Chris Beaulieu, director of the Rec and Parks Department, met with Carter to see how to get this project to 35 percent of completion.
“We plan to sit down with Mark and members of Harriman Associates to work on how to get to the 35-percent level,” said Bennett, as he recommended councilors authorize city officials to move forward with the downstate agency to engage the next stage of the project.
“Then we’ll see what role Mark plays in the next phase,” said the city manager.
Bennett said Harriman Associates are currently doing three projects in Aroostook, including one in Fort Kent.
“Too bad we can’t stick with Mark, but at this point in the project we need to get things going and should move forward and get this going,” said Councilor Mike Chasse, as he made a motion, which was seconded by Councilor Randy Smith, and unanimously passed by council to move forward with Harriman Associates handling Phase 2 of the Community Center design project.
