Entertainment District Annex

Fresh off the “You’ve Got to be Kidding Me” desk: It seems that one Entertainment District isn’t enough for Scottsdale and we may soon have another.

The “Cultural Park” is slated to be adjacent to (and probably occupy some, if not all of) the Loloma Transit Station on the west side of Downtown Scottsdale. The Loloma station was, in itself, a project of great expense and questionable value. As quoted in an AZCentral article that contemplated the closing of Loloma:

When the depot was built in 1997 at a cost of $3 million, city officials promised Loloma would serve more than just bus riders. It would be a place where families gathered for picnics and free concerts.

“It had a lot of potential when it was designed,” [Madeline] Clemann [then-city transit supervisor] said.

Now, the bicycle storage lockers are closed to keep transients out. The swamp coolers in the waiting areas no longer work. The fare sales window sells 30 to 50 fares per day and about 270 transit users board a bus per day.

“Over time, it didn’t turn out to its potential,” Clemann said.

There is a Request for Proposals and/or Request for Qualifications pre-submittal meeting scheduled for Friday at the City Hall Kiva at 10:00 a.m.

Some sketchy details of the project are below. This, in my humble opinion, is a classic example of a make-work project in which the folks who have the reins haven’t identified a need, a clear way to fill it, what it will cost, or whether the city has the money. But in the best bureaucratic practice, that hasn’t stopped them from calling for “full steam ahead.”

Leave it to Dr. Strangedale to sum it up in a Tweet:

The link to the webpage containing the information below is

http://www.scottsdaleaz.gov/ev/evrfp

And the link to the 13 Jan RFQ is

http://www.scottsdaleaz.gov/Assets/Public+Website/economics/Cultural+Park+RFQ.pdf

Economic Development Requests for Proposals

WESTERN THEMED MUSEUM & AN ADDITIONAL CULTURAL VENUE

The City of Scottsdale (“City”) issues this Request for Qualifications (the “RFQ”) seeking experienced and qualified persons (“Vendor”) to present a creative proposal for a downtown cultural park that would include a western themed museum plus an additional cultural venue that complements the museum (the “Project”) and enhances the overall cultural experience provided by the cultural park. The cultural park project is to be located on a City owned parcel of real property that is north and west of the Loloma Transit Center.

The Cultural Park includes the 3 parcels identified on the Loloma Final Plat, Exhibit “A” to this RFQ, as the “Center Parcel,” the “Cultural Parcel” and the “Expansion Parcel.” The western themed museum will be located on the “Cultural Parcel” and the “Expansion Parcel”. The additional cultural venue will be located to the south and west on the Center Parcel. These 3 parcels are together hereinafter called the “Loloma Parcel.”

The City is seeking a Vendor who is best qualified to propose the most advantageous and creative way to develop the cultural park and has the qualifications to enter into a Contract with the City to fund, design, construct, operate and maintain the proposed cultural venues on the Loloma Parcel, as defined in Section II of this RFQ. The Vendor should be prepared to demonstrate how all tasks required to complete the Project can be accomplished most advantageously to the City and the Vendor.

The City will consider a public/private partnership for the design, construction, operation, maintenance and funding of the Project. Because of the uniqueness of the location and the challenges it presents for development, the City will give consideration to any number of variations on how the Project can best be accomplished. It is the City’s preference that the entire cultural park project be developed and operated by one vendor, but the City will consider alternative proposals. These alternative proposals could include, but are not limited to, permitting the selected Vendor to contract or joint venture with others to fund, design, construct, operate and maintain either the western themed museum or the Center Parcel cultural venue, either as one package or as 2 separate development packages; or submitting a Statement of Qualifications (SOQ) for only 1 of the venues in the cultural park.

The First Addendum to the RFQ for the Cultural Venue is now available for download here.

The RFQ is available for download here.

For additional information contact Rob Millar at RMillar@scottsdaleaz.gov or 480-312-2533.

Downtown Western Art & History Museum

No submissions were received by the 10 a.m. Thursday morning, May 17, 2012, deadline and the Request for Proposals for the downtown western museum has closed.

History of the Project: The City of Scottsdale requested proposals for the possible development of a western art and history museum in downtown Scottsdale. The primary focus of this RFP was to select a competent organization to operate a to-be-built museum.

In preparation for a March 15, 2012 City Council decision regarding the extension of a reservation of bed tax as a funding source for the western art and history museum project, the City desired to learn whether proposers intend to submit proposals.  The City issued the RFP Second Addendum, which required that persons intending to submit proposals give notice to the City no later than March 15, 2012 by noon.

The Second Addendum’s notification requirement has served its purpose by confirming the existence of proposers who intend to submit proposals complying with the RFP and the City now removes the notification requirement imposed by the Second Addendum.

The City has issued a Third Addendum to this effect.  The Third Addendum is available for download here.

The Second Addendum to Request For Proposals for Western Art and History Museum Operator for To-Be-Built Museum is now available for download here.

The First Addendum to Request For Proposals for Western Art and History Museum Operator for To-Be-Built Museum is now available for download here.

Proposer suggestions were due to the City on February 1.  The suggestions and the City’s response to suggestions are now available for download here.

The RFP is available for download here.

An Optional Pre-Proposal Conference and Site Visit meeting was held on January 25, 2012.  A copy of the Museum Pre-Proposal meeting minutes and PowerPoint presentation are available here.

For additional information contact Kim Hanna at khanna@scottsdaleaz.gov or 480-312-7612.