Representatives from Bond Architects returned to the Crestwood Board of Aldermen on Oct. 27 to present an updated concept design of the Family Games Center in Whitecliff Park. The aldermen previously reviewed the design in June, and the plan has since been revised several times to take their suggestions into account and minimize costs.

“Since (June), our staff and design team have met multiple times, basically to keep the budget as low as possible,” Mayor Scott Shipley said. “What we ended up with isn’t that far from what we began with. We went through four iterations and pretty much decided that this was the sweet spot that delivered all the things we’re looking for with minimal costs.”

The plan for the Family Games Center currently includes four pickleball courts, a shuffleboard court and three bocce courts that can be repurposed for games like cornhole. The focal point of the outdoor complex, however, is the amphitheater: a gently sloping, terraced turf area that can seat approximately 500 people for Whitecliff Summer Playhouse productions.

The Family Games Center project is being funded by Proposition A, a $33 million bond issue that was passed by voters in 2024 in order to accomplish a variety of Crestwood Parks and Recreation projects — this complex among them.

“This amphitheater was a late arrival. This was not contemplated originally by the bond,” Ward 3 Alderman Grant Mabie said about the design. “It’s now the main focus of the site. My only trepidation would be proceeding with something that was not contemplated, not advertised to the voters, and then running out of money to complete something that we did.”

Ward 2 Alderperson Rebecca Now responded by saying that she thought it was “important to have a public place for performing arts.”

When it was passed, Proposition A envisioned the Family Games Center as a combination of outdoor and indoor recreational facilities that used parts of the existing Crestwood Community Center building. The initial cost estimate for that design was $2.6 million. Now, the plan is to tear down the community center and replace it with this entirely outdoor complex.

Crestwood resident Dale Taylor told The Call in July that he was disappointed by the changes made to the plan, saying, “When the idea of Prop A was presented there are those like me who thought, ‘Well, at least they’re making some use of the current community center rather than tear down that beautiful, functional building.’ And there are those who play pickle ball who were excited by the prospect of using indoor courts when the weather was bad. We’re all screwed.”

According to Bond Architects, under the initial plan, over 50% of the current community center would have been renovated or “touched.” By hitting the 50% mark, the entire building would have been brought up to code — a process that would require cost-heavy renovations of bathrooms, the fire sprinkler system and more. Ryan Wilson of Navigate Building Solutions says that, by pursuing that plan, it would bring costs from $2.6 million up to $5 million.

“We were getting into an excessive cost just to maintain a building that also had some cracking going on in the gymnasium,” Rebecca Kleba of Bond Architects said. “It was then thought that we should take a step back.”

The outdoor Family Games Center plan will soon enter the schematic design phase as architects and builders take a closer look at the plan and the engineering required to make it a reality. Wilson expects to have a firmer budget estimate to the Board of Aldermen before Christmas; when asked by the aldermen, he said that a current, rough estimate might put the project around $3.9 million, with hopes of getting that number down further.