A new $2.3 million parking lot and formation of an ad hoc committee to install public art at the new swimming pool have been approved by the Woodland City Council.

Both projects will take place at the Woodland Senior & Community Center with the parking lot dramatically changing the overall appearance of the facility.

City staff proposed the multi-million dollar contract be awarded to All Phase Construction, which will build 96 new parking spaces, including eight ADA-accessible spaces and four electric vehicle charging stations. In addition, the project will install infrastructure to provide 28 more EV spaces in the future.

The council approved both requests on 5-0 votes. The parking lot was under the council’s consent calendar and there was no debate. The pool artwork was open for discussion but it too faced no significant questions from the council.

The new parking site is to be located immediately east of East Street, west of the main entryway to the Community Center, that now unused grassland with minimal landscaping.

The project is currently funded in the city’s Capital Budget with $1.5 million. Total project cost, including design, construction, contingency, construction management, inspection, and project management, bring the total cost to an estimated at $2.3 million.

Because not enough money is available under the Capital Budget, city staff are proposing the transfer of $800,000 in funds from the new aquatics center now under construction and set to open in another eight months. The aquatics center is expected to cost $16.2 million but current bills total just over $15 million.

The expanded parking site is needed for a variety of reasons, primarily because more activities are now taking place at the Community & Senior Center with additional growth anticipated once the pool is operational and various local sporting facilities are built.

The city’s Parks & Recreation Commission approved a conceptual plan of new parks and recreation facilities at the Woodland Sports Park in late 2017.

In the city’s Community & Senior Center Master Plan, the need to construct additional parking was identified as a “Level A” recommendation. The plan identified the turf area in front of the main entrance as the best area.

Other parking sites are located to the south, north and east of the main building.

Meanwhile, the council has also ratified the creation of an ad hoc committee, consisting of Mayor Rich Lansburgh and Vice Mayor Tom Stallard, to analyze options and issue a request for qualifications for a public art installation on the entry wall of the new Aquatic Center.

The cost for the art installation will be determined by the ultimate scope and form of the project to be determined, according to a city proposal.

Prior to the final selection of the artwork, city staff will return to the council with a contract for commissioning the design and installation of the work.Money for the artwork will come from a combination of new Aquatic Center project funds and City Public Art Funds.

Once approved, the art will be adjacent to the main facility entrance, where a south-facing 17-foot-tall wall has been identified as a potential location for a painted or ceramic mural.

The Woodland Community & Senior Center opened in March 2007. The 55,300-square-foot facility, cost around $26 million and took five years of planning, budgeting and building.

It houses several large meeting and dining areas, game rooms, a basketball court as well as a boxing facility and exercise areas. The exterior of the structure features a basketball court, baseball and softball fields, soccer fields and other recreational facilities.