moorhead city council

Nancy Edmonds Hanson

With its funding now in place, the Moorhead City Council is taking the next step toward the much-anticipated downtown community center and library- The board authorized issuing an RFQ – a “request for qualifications” – to architectural and engineering firms to decide who will design the facility.

City planning director Kristie Leshovsky told council members that potential applicants’ experience with similar projects will first be considered by a committee of Moorhead officials and residents. Those selected will then be invited to submit proposals for the design of the center.

The deadline to submit qualifications is April 20. A committee of Moorhead officials and residents will select the firms that will then receive the formal request for proposals. The deadline for submitting qualifications is March 16; proposals must be received by April 20. According to the timetable Leshovsky set out, the council will receive a recommendation about whom to hire at its meeting May 8. The design phase is expected to extend through the end of 2023.

In May, the council will also issue an RFP for a “construction manager at risk” firm, or CMAR. Interviews will be conducted in August, with a recommendation to the council in September.

Construction of the new center – expected to offer 20,500 square feet of space for the Moorhead Public Library, meeting rooms, an indoor playground and other amenities – will begin in 2024, Leshovsky told the council. The $31.5 million structure will be funded by the half-cent city sales tax approved by voters last November. Collection of the sales tax is slated to begin April 1.