By Warren Cornwall
Herald Writer
County officials could create a central-Everett campus unobstructed by parking garages, or they could add another garage to the skyline and save $10 million or more.
That’s one of the major choices presented to the Snohomish County Council Monday, in the first detailed glimpse at plans for a multi-million dollar facelift of downtown government buildings.
Though still vague, it laid out choices facing county officials as they mull the future of several blocks in the city’s center.
The county could save money, but sacrifice land to parking. It could steer cars into underground lots, but risk higher costs than earlier projected.
Despite the uncertainty, the plans answered questions about the immediate fate of the county’s historic old courthouse, known as the Mission Building. County planners had said it could be a candidate for the wrecking ball to make way for more office space.
But it and another historic county building, the Carnegie Library, will remain standing for now, said Larry Van Horn, director of the county’s facilities management department.
While the county dodged that contentious matter, it may have to decide whether to exceed earlier cost estimates or pare back construction plans.
The two options presented Monday would cost $137 million or $148 million, according to initial estimates by the Seattle architecture firm NBBJ. That would include building eight more stories worth of office space, enlarging the jail and adding parking.
Earlier county estimates put the construction costs at $140 million.
The new cost estimates, however, don’t include renovations to shore up the Mission Building against earthquakes, or build more storage space for the sheriff’s office, county officials said.
Some hoped-for projects were shelved to hold down prospective costs, county finance director Dan Clements said.
"The basic idea was in order to balance the budget we would cut back on the scope of the some of the improvements," he said.
Even with the reductions, the cost of one option still could exceed earlier projections by $8 million.
County officials cautioned the design is still uncertain, and that any definite cost or final design is still weeks away. They also said the county won’t dig into other revenues to pay costs.
"There’s kind of a shape in the fog now getting closer to us," said Dale Moses, the county’s lead official on the project.
The largest difference between the two major plans released Monday was the strategy for dealing with 1,200 cars.
The cheaper version calls for underground parking to handle 220 cars, while the remainder would go to the existing parking garage, or a new one built on what is now a county parking lot at the corner of Oakes Avenue and Wall Street.
The more costly plan would send all parking underground, putting the new office building where the parking garage now stands, alongside Oakes Avenue.
That, Van Horn said, is the preferred option. Building more above-ground parking garages would eat up land that could otherwise serve as public space, be leased for businesses or house future county expansions, he said.
"It really isn’t the best decision long term," he said of building more above-ground parking.
County planners are on a fast track to decide on the project’s final look. A public open house isn’t scheduled yet, but could take place as soon as Oct. 8, according to a schedule released Monday. The county council and county executive are tentatively scheduled to choose the preferred option four days later.
You can call Herald Writer Warren Cornwall at 425-339-3463 or send e-mail to cornwall@heraldnet.com.
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