Two weeks after an Austin City Council work session discussion about the proposed $35 million Austin Community Recreation Center project at the Austin Municipal Plant, council members voiced a few new concerns about the design of the proposed building.

The council wasn’t scheduled to talk Monday about the proposed plan for the city and Vision 2020 to partner to acquire the downtown plant and turn it into a community rec center and new YMCA. But Council member at-large Janet Anderson voiced concerns that the proposed preservation of the turbine room would be abandoned without council’s consent if it proved too costly.

“It’s sort of nebulous to, and maybe that’s the only way it can be at this point, about the possibility of saving and using the turbine area, that’s been part of the festival and all that,” Anderson said. “I would like there to be some documentation of what’s the difference between keeping it or not keeping it. As opposed to them, the powers, just coming back and saying, ‘Well it’s too expensive and it’s all gone.’”

Mayor Tom Stiehm disagreed and said developers and construction firms would not just say no to not preserving the turbine room.

“You’ll know as we know,” Stiehm said, as he and City Administrator Craig Clark are still negotiating details of the lease with the Vision 2020 Rec Center Committee.

Anderson also asked about what furnishings will be in the rec center and who will provide those furnishings. Stiehm said it hadn’t been determined yet and Clark said they hadn’t got that far into negotiations.

“It was presumption that that would be included in there, but some of those finer details we stipulate, even in the lease, like the popcorn machine, computers and things like that,” Clark said.

The council still needs to vote on a conditional purchase agreement and operating agreement for the facility.

In the lease agreement, there’s a description of a children’s play area that needs to be at least 2,000 square feet and available to the public at no charge. The YMCA would need to maintain the structure.

Stiehm said the city won’t be locked in where they can’t pull back if something doesn’t come out, like the boiler room. Clark agreed and explained they could withdraw if the reason was based on not getting something that was stipulated in the agreement, such as the youth activity center.

Council member Judy Enright said there should be someone from the city involved in the planning and design process to make sure it works for the city. Clark confirmed the city would be a part of that process.

Enright added it would be easier to vote if there was a firm design and firm admittance price for non-YMCA members. But Vision 2020 Rec Center Committee co-chairs Tanya Medgaarden and Matt Cano said they would not have those until a site was secured.

Clark said the city has encouraged them to go ahead and get architectural designs.

“From the last session at council, that demonstrated generally a positive response so they can have some assurance and move forward on that and maybe get some general schematics,” Clark said. “Some of the square footage is stipulated in the lease agreement, like the playground area. Just keep looking through it and have as much certainty as we can. I think generally, the other component is we’re all negotiating in good faith with the Y and The [Hormel] Foundation.”