Dobbs Ferry narrows Park Community Center RFQ to three design teams, plans interviews

Valerie Manastra, a consultant from Nas and Pope, presented the results of a request for qualifications for a Park Community Center project and said three teams—BKSK, H2M and PW PBW—rose to the top after reviewers weighed scope understanding, design examples, team qualifications, schedule and cost estimates.

The presentation matter-of-factly framed the RFQ as a chance to rebuild pool bathrooms while adding indoor community-center space for year-round programming. "We looked for demonstrations of design excellence" and teams that had actually done similar community center projects, Manastra said.

The mayor and trustees discussed how best to evaluate those finalists. The mayor said interviews would allow the village to probe specific concerns—why a fee is high, how teams plan community outreach, and whether heavy on-site architectural staffing is necessary. "I personally don't feel the need to like redo the work that you guys already did," the mayor said, while adding they wanted a chance to ask follow-up questions in interviews.

Several trustees favored a smaller interview panel. Trustee Donna said she preferred a subcommittee "so you don't have too many cooks." Trustees agreed a subcommittee would meet with the three shortlisted teams and then bring recommendations back to the full board for ratification.

Next steps: staff will reach out to the three shortlisted teams to schedule interviews and return with proposed interview dates and a subcommittee membership list for formal ratification. The board did not take a final binding vote on a design partner at the workshop.