The approval process for any major construction project is complicated and ours certainly had its challenges. Some of our last minute hurdles included:

• Even though we are only looking to execute Phase 1 at this time, we needed to file complete plans for both phases in order to assure the Planning Commission that Phase 1 adequately prepares for Phase 2 construction.

• The City requested a parking study to verify that our planned addition of 24 spaces was sufficient. The study came back recommending 26 and we've decided to bump that up to 28.

• The issue of mineral rights was unearthed (pun intended, sorry). Our Building Committee chair Jeff Temple hustled to ask the mineral rights holder to waive the 30-day notice requirement, which came through on Wednesday and enabled us to present to the Planning Commission last night rather than 4 weeks from now.

• We were originally told that City Council needed to approve our plans, requiring two readings 4 weeks apart. But then, Deputy City Manager Tom Leeson pointed out that since we're not requesting any variances, only the Planning Commission's approval was needed, thus saving us another 4 weeks in our timeline.

And last night, we did get the Planning Commission's approval ... unanimously!

We cannot begin to thank Jeff Temple and his Building Committee enough for successfully achieving this major milestone after two years of hard work –

• Project Manager Barry Sherman of S3 Partners
• Architect Chandler Deimund of Vertical Arts
• Construction consultant Travis Holmquist of HLCC Construction
• Committee members Loretta Conway, Moz Modzelewski, Ricky Jenkins and Sean Pummill

So what does this all mean? First, we actually need to apply for permits. (The Planning Commission's approval was a prerequisite to start that process.) Second, we also have some financial and legal i's to dot and t's to cross internally.

The bottom line, though, is that since Phase 1 is fully funded through a combination of gifts, pledges, loan, and a private "bridge grant" to cover the delayed cash flow of multi-year pledges, we are working hard to get shovels in the ground in June.

Stay tuned for schedule details as they develop. In the meantime, tune up your bikes since parking at the Center will be very limited once construction starts!