HB Construction Breaks Ground on $3.6 Million Holiday Park Community Center

HB Construction and the City of Albuquerque officially broke ground on the new $3.6 million Holiday Park Multigenerational Center, Tuesday, April 10, at 2:30 p.m. at Holiday Park, 11710 Comanche Road in a groundbreaking ceremony that signaled the start of the highly anticipated project.

"This center is truly a focal point for this community and it’s really and honor to share in such an exciting opportunity," said HB Construction President and CEO Jason W. Harrington.

Mayor Richard Berry and City Council District 8 Councilor Trudy Jones spoke briefly about the impact of the center as well as some of new building’s features.

Upon it’s completion in February of 2013, the new 18,000-square-foot community center will offer a variety of community facilities including a meeting room, fitness area, exercise room, computer lab, game room and a mini-gym with basketball facilities. The new, much larger, facility will also offer a broader range of services to accommodate the growing community’s needs.

Currently, Holiday Park serves some of the largest before and after school programs in Albuquerque and the Holiday Park Multigenerational Center is the only community center in Northeast Albuquerque’s City Council District 8.

The new center will utilize a number of energy-efficient systems including energy efficient heating and cooling systems, high-performance building envelope with high-efficiency glazing and continuous insulation, reflective roofing materials and energy-efficient LED lighting systems.

The original Holiday Park Recreation Center was built in the 1970s as an open air shelter and was later enclosed and expanded in the 1990s.

The new center was designed by Kells + Craig Architects, a local architecture firm which has designed a number of other community centers throughout the city including the $4 million Manzano Mesa Multigenerational Center, the city’s first completely integrated multigenerational community center.

The design for the new facility was based partly on input from District 8 neighborhoods and family and community center staff, who participated in two large community meetings which were held prior to the start of construction.

Along with the construction of the community center, HB Construction also recently began work on the $4.1 million Phase II renovation of the Albuquerque Museum of Art and History.

Recently named the American Subcontractor Association of New Mexico’s 2011 General Contractor of the Year, HB Construction has completed a wide variety of award-winning public works projects all over New Mexico.