Shakopee is committed to providing a safe and healthy environment at the community center for all customers and staff. To ensure the safety of all customers and staff, we developed a COVID-19 Preparedness Plan in response to the COVID-19 pandemic in accordance with Executive Orders from the Governor of Minnesota, and implementation guidance from the Minnesota Department of Health and the Minnesota Department of Employment and Economic Development. Our goal is to mitigate the potential for transmission of COVID-19 within our facility to protect our community.  Customers now make reservations for amenity slots in order to provide them with predictable access as we schedule sanitizing windows between reservations so allow can complete their new cleaning tasks.

The community center’s highest demand amenities are found in the fitness area, and the aquatics center.  Currently, there is only one entrance for customer to access the facility, which is located on the upper level on Fuller Street.  Adding another entrance for customers will provide shorter access routes to the lower-level amenities, will mitigate the bottle-neck congestion resulting from a single entrance/exit point, and set the conditions for overall better customer flow.  Under the constraints of COVID-19, customer flow is heavily scrutinized and must be carefully managed.

Adding a lower-level/back entrance as the customer access point for the aquatics center, gymnasium, and multi-purpose room builds on current successful efforts to provide a safe and healthy environment for customers and staff.  Once approved, this additional entrance should be completed as soon as possible, in order to improve the safety of the community center environment for the health of customers and staff.

Prior to the dynamic changes and unique operational demands of COVID-19, a lower-level/back entrance was not identified as a need, so it was not included in the most recently approved budget.

This $68,191.00 project would be funded by CARES Act funding, with Terry Link (Building Maintenance Manager) serving as Project Manager in order to lower project costs and benefit from his personal knowledge of the facility.

The project can be completed by November 15, 2020 with Greystone Construction handling most of the scope for $49,950.00.  MidWest Fencing will complete the fence around the outside HVAC system (adjacent to the entrance) for $12,241.00.  As Mr. Link works with the vendors who already help maintain our facility to address the remaining minor portions of the project related to: electrical; HVAC; fire alarm/smoke detector; and door controls, for $6,000.

The addition of a lower-level entrance is critical to providing a safe and healthy environment at the community center for all customers and staff.  This project meets the requirements for CARES Act funding, and should be completed as soon as possible