Construction has begun on the new $17.4 million O’Fallon Park Recreation Complex in North St. Louis City. KAI Design & Build, the architect and M/E/P engineer on the project, designed the modern facility to achieve a Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) Silver certification.
The LEED rating system offers four certification levels for new construction – Certified, Silver, Gold and Platinum. Each level, with Platinum being the highest, is based on the number of credits the design achieves in five green design categories: sustainable sites, water efficiency, energy and atmosphere, materials and resources, and indoor environmental quality. The U.S. Green Building Council sets the standards for each certification level.
The 73,625-square-foot O’Fallon Park Recreation Complex is a sister facility to the $21 million Southside Community Center located in Carondelet Park in South St. Louis City. The 73,000-square-foot Southside facility, also designed by KAI Design & Build to achieve LEED Silver, was completed in November 2009. The O’Fallon complex, under construction on 13 acres of land in O’Fallon Park near West Florissant Street and I-70, is expected to be completed at the end of 2011.
Based on a feasibility study conducted by KAI Design & Build, St. Louis City officials determined that there was significant interest in both areas of the city to support community centers. KAI designed both facilities based on community input and the city’s objectives. Both projects are funded by a one-eighth-cent sales tax approved by city voters in 2008.
Designs for the two-story, O’Fallon Park Recreation Complex include:
An indoor aquatic park with zero-depth entry, interactive water play features, lazy river, water slides and three lap lanes.
An outdoor spray and multi-use pool.
A gymnasium with two, full-sized basketball courts.
An upper level indoor track and stretching area.
A 5,776-square-foot fitness and weight room.
Aerobic rooms.
Multi-purpose rooms for youth and senior outreach programs.
An indoor/outdoor dining area.
KAI Design & Build used Building Information Modeling (BIM) software to produce virtual working models for both community centers. Using BIM technology promotes enhanced communication and collaboration among project team members, better decision-making, and a drastic reduction in costly change orders. KAI also provided project management and cost estimating/scheduling on both community centers.
S.M. Wilson of St. Louis is the general contractor on the project. St. Louis-based Kwame Building Group is assisting the St. Louis Board of Public Service in managing all aspects of the project.
