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Roy Wilkins Recreation Center - Department of Design and Construction
Roy Wilkins Recreation Center
Building a world-class recreation center in Queens
For the NYC Department of Parks and Recreation, DDC will manage design and construction of a new 55,000-square-foot recreation center located at Roy Wilkins Park in St. Albans, Queens. The center’s amenities will include swimming pool, running track, gymnasium, weight training and fitness rooms, and other support spaces. Existing recreation center programming will relocate to the new building, but the existing building is to remain with no work in existing building included in this project scope.
Honoring civil rights leader Roy Wilkins
The recreation center honors the enduring legacy of Roy Wilkins (1901 - 1981), famed civil rights activist and former Executive Director of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP). As leader of the NAACP from 1955 to 1977, Wilkins worked tirelessly to promote voter rights legislation, fair housing laws, and equity in wages. Roy Wilkins Park and the existing recreation center are well-loved in the community of St. Albans. DDC seeks teams and partners that can appropriately honor this legacy and are able to meaningfully engage with the community at all stages of the project. Read more about Roy Wilkins here and the history of the park here.
Improved collaboration for public works
Design-Build allows DDC to complete public projects faster and more efficiently. It emphasizes collaboration, efficiency, and risk reduction, which means we can open libraries, fire stations, and maintenance facilities sooner. This improved approach will benefit our partners in the design and construction process, our City, our sponsor agencies, and the New Yorkers who rely on our projects.
DDC seeks to embed equity in the procurement, design, and construction processes
At every stage of this project, we will prioritize community involvement and meaningful M/WBE and small business participation. The agency actively encourages interest from City- and State-certified Minority and Women-Owned Business Enterprises (M/WBE) firms. DDC also seeks qualified firms that have a demonstrated history of hiring, training, developing, promoting, and retaining minority and women staff.
Key dates for potential teams, partners, and subconsultants
Winter 2024: Request for Proposals / RFP Release
August 24, 2023: DDC's Roy Wilkins Pre-RFQ Forum
DDC shared new information about the Roy Wilkins project and provided updates on the ongoing process. You may view the event recording here and the event presentation here. The attendance can be found here.
Summer/Fall 2023: Request for Qualifications / RFQ Release
May 5, 2023: Responses are due to the Request for Expressions of Interest/RFEI
Responses to the RFEI by interested subcontractors and suppliers are posted on our website here.
April 18, 2023: DDC’s Roy Wilkins public pre-solicitation conference
This event provided an overview of DDC’s design-build program as well as background on the project’s importance to the community, including the legacy of Roy Wilkins. Firms interested in the project, including those responding to the Request for Expressions of Interest/RFEI (due May 5, 2023) may wish to view the event recording or review the presentation. Find the Q&A portion here.
March 30, 2023: Request for Expressions of Interest/RFEI posted under current opportunities on DDC’s design-build web page
DDC is interested in hearing from interested vendors for this procurement, with the intention of publicly sharing vendor information and availability to team as a Prime or Sub vendor. All inquiries regarding the RFEI should be directed to design_build@ddc.nyc.gov. In addition, DDC is soliciting feedback from vendors about experiences with other agencies on DB projects, including considerations on variations to the procurement process, such as extent of proposal development and the procurement schedule.
February 22, 2023: Project included in DDC’s public 2023 Lookahead Forum
Forum notes the project’s budget will be approximately $120 million. Also see the public forum’s Q&A.
Design-Build streamlines procurement with multiple opportunities for collaboration and partnership
A Request for Qualifications (RFQ) is the first part of the vendor selection process. Only short-listed firms will be eligible to participate in the second phase of the procurement, the Request for Proposals (RFP) phase. Once the short list is published, other firms that had not been involved in the RFQ process will have an opportunity to partner with the design-build teams on the list.
Additional information on the specifics of the design-build procurement process is listed here and on the procurement documents, including the project’s Notice of Intent.