Plans for the addition to Lincoln Center in Stevens Point are progressing rapidly.
The Lincoln Center Building Committee approved a preliminary schematic drawing from Excel Engineering of Fond du Lac on Monday, Aug. 13. Excel will continue to develop a plan for the next committee meeting at 1 p.m. Sept. 4 in Lincoln Center.
Under the latest plans, the addition on the south side of the center would cost about $2.8 million, plus about $300,000 to correct existing building deficiencies.
The addition, which will require the acquisition of two properties south of the center, will have its own entrance facing south and will provide space for adult day care and personnel offices.
The existing north entrance would remain as the access to the public area of the building, where the existing offices would be remodeled for other uses. The proposal would also add a new entrance at the northwest corner of the building for the Holly Shoppe.
John Gardner, Stevens Point director of planning/community development, told the Stevens Point Board of Public Works Monday that the plan revises an earlier proposal and doesn't go as close to Water Street as that earlier proposal did.
Last week the city Plan Commission recommended an amendment to setback requirements to allow community and senior centers closer to a street in order to construct the building closer to Water Street. Gardner said then the setback issues generally occur in older neighborhoods.
Gardner also told the board that more detailed figures for the project will probably be available for the Sept. 4 meeting. In 1999, the cost of the addition was estimated at $2 million, but the city has been looking at a cost of $3 million.
Under the agreement for the Lincoln Center, the city is responsible for the building and Portage County is responsible for the personnel to operate the county Department on Aging.