The demolition of the old El Santiago Club restaurant has been scheduled for March 27.
The demolition of the structure will pave the way for the new 7,600 square-foot El Santiago Recreation Center.
In 2013, the Amenity Authority Committee spent $350,000 to buy the restaurant building from the Developer only to discover it in poor condition. After several months of debate about the future of the building and hearing from residents who vehemently wanted a restaurant back, it was ultimately decided to demolish the building and build a recreation center.
On Feb. 11, the AAC awarded the contract for the demolition and reconstruction of the new recreation center to Mark Cook Builders even though that company’s proposal for the project was nearly $200,000 higher than the contractor who came in with the lowest price. Cook’s proposed price was $1,774,608. Emmett Sapp Builders came in with the lowest price of $1,584,000.
In all, seven contractors submitted proposals.
In January, Emmett Sapp had appealed directly to the AAC to reconsider the proposal, igniting a vigorous discussion about the request for proposal process used by the AAC.
