Macon-Bibb County’s vision for a new arena came into better focus Tuesday evening when commissioners approved hiring an award-winning architectural and engineering firm, and also selected a Georgia company to design the expansion of the Bibb County Jail.
The special called meeting included approving a $7.7 million contract for Piedmont Mining to extend the runway at Middle Georgia Regional Airport, accepting $5.9 million in grants from the Federal Aviation Administration and spending another $3.6 million to resurface streets under the Paving the Way initiative.
Arena
Before the presentation on the arena, Mayor Lester Miller cautioned that the designs presented are only in the concept stage, but the 200,000-square-foot facility should be ready by summer of 2028.
In June, the county hired MFA Program Management to use its experience with major building projects to oversee construction of the facility that will have a minimum of 8,500 fixed seats plus premium boxes, luxury seats and capacity for floor seating.
“They are acting as the owner’s rep for Macon-Bibb County, overseeing the project, making sure that we are checking all the boxes appropriately, saving us money wherever we can, speeding up the process wherever we can, and using their expertise to make sure that we are getting and delivering the best quality product that we can for our community,” Macon-Bibb Director of Planning & Public Spaces Alex Morrison told commissioners Tuesday.
MFA representatives, including Will Christenbury who will live in Macon during construction, announced PBK Design and Planning will design the arena under a contract not to exceed 7.25% of the total project cost, which is not yet known. A timeline unveiled during the meeting showed an estimate is expected by mid-December.
PBK could also be paid 4% of the total cost of a parking deck, if needed. There could be ample parking if the Coliseum is razed, but Miller said the future of that building will need further study.
With 33 offices nationwide including Griffin and Sugar Hill, PBK is ranked No. 10 in the top 100 architectural and engineering firms in the nation with its more than $324 million in revenue last year. The firm has won 450 design awards, and completed 18,000 projects in its 42-year history, including 80 indoor arenas, according to the presentation.
In addition to PBK’s Griffin-based executives, they hired local engineer Don Carter to join the team for this project.
“Together we will create the best gateway in Georgia, and anchor Macon’s next great district,” stated a slide during MFA’s presentation.
The arena will go up on the site of the old Chamber of Commerce building in the southwest section of the Coliseum parking lot. A new entrance near the Second Street bridge will lead to downtown’s planned civic center district with two hotels and the Renaissance on the River project off Riverside Drive that includes Mercer University’s School of Medicine.
MFA and PBK consider the arena an “iconic project that will inspire the next generation” and draw attention from the tens of thousands of cars that pass by on Interstate 16 each week.
PBK also has experience designing athletic facilities and will create a multi-use approach for the arena with components that can be broken down easily to reconfigure seating for conventions, concerts, graduations, sports and entertainment acts. The arena is designed to complement the Atrium Health Amphitheater, especially in the cooler months.
Groundbreaking is expected in July with completion of the project coming in mid-2028.
Over the next 10 months, the team will be finalizing the design and listening to stakeholders.
“We still have plenty of time for input and public engagement. All this is part of the process,” Miller said.
Jail
Architects of more than 20 secure facilities in Georgia, Atlanta-based Jericho Design Group, will design the maximum security and mental health additions to the Bibb County Law Enforcement Center under a $2.1 million contract approved Tuesday.
“This is a temporary fix that needs a long-term solution,” Macon-Bibb SPLOST Director Clay Murphey told commissioners.
The county purchased land off Seventh Street for a potential new law enforcement complex with an estimated price tag of between $250 million to $400 million which Miller said would not be possible without raising taxes or sacrificing revenue-generating projects, like the arena and civic center and hotels planned in the 10-year, $450 million 2025 SPLOST.
The entire jail expansion project is expected to cost up to $31 million to build a new 150-bed wing from pre-fabricated steel cell units that fit together like Legos and could be later taken apart and moved to a new jail, Murphey said.
“(Jericho) came in with some creative ideas about working in the existing facility as well as in building a new jail,” Murphey said.
The exterior of the wing will look like older sections of the jail, but the inside will be the secure, interlocking cells. The layout will provide maintenance access to plumbing and electrical on the other side of the cell wall in a corridor which allows repairs without workers coming in contact with inmates.
A central command post in the center of the wing will allow corrections officers to see into each cell in the block which can be reconfigured to allow more mental health beds or sectors for females depending on needs.
The company will “jump on” any other needs to secure and address issues in the older section of the jail, Murphey said.
During the lone public comment of the meeting, Terry McGee favored a whole new facility citing recent deaths and conditions that prompted Georgia’s senators to ask for a Justice Department investigation, and the mayor to form the Macon Justice and Wellness Task Force.
“We’ve been doing CPR on this jail long enough. It’s a dead body. We need to replace it,” McGee told commissioners. “Are you blind? Are you deaf? Or do you just don’t care?”
Out of seven bids for law enforcement expansion, Jericho was selected unanimously by a committee made up of the mayor, Murphey, Bibb Sheriff’s Office Chief Deputy Mike Scarbary and River Edge Behavioral Health’s Cass Hatcher, who was chosen for his expertise in handling clients with mental health and developmental disabilities. River Edge provides mental health professionals in the jail and co-responders for crisis intervention.
The new wing will be on the First Street side in the current parking lot across from the fire department’s headquarters.
The first step is to demolish the old James F. Higgins Memorial Complex on Hazel Street for a new parking lot. Jericho will build the new mental health cells adjacent to the current infirmary and employ calming colors and natural lighting.
Miller said the county plans to save money by doing the demolition work before construction begins. Construction should be complete between 14 and 16 months.
This year’s SPLOST campaign did not list specific projects, but categories in which the tax revenue would be spent.
During Tuesday’s meeting, the commission approved a budget for $55.3 million in bonds sold to allow the county to begin spending money before the revenue comes in.
Road resurfacing accounts for $20 million, recreation and culture projects receive $14 million and public safety and development each are allotted $10 million. Administrative costs and repaying debt consume the rest totaling more than $1.3 million.
Highlights from other agenda items were captured in social media posts during the meeting.
— Civic Journalism Senior Fellow Liz Fabian covers Macon-Bibb County government entities for The Macon Newsroom and can be reached at [email protected].
