Lake Stevens civic center costs raise concerns

By Kate Reardon

Herald Writer

LAKE STEVENS — Lake Stevens Mayor Lynn Walty says he gets heartburn looking at the projected $9.7 million price tag to build a new civic center and library near North Cove Park.

"I obviously wasn’t happy with what I saw," he said, adding he would be happier if the price were about $3 million less. "I’m not going to say it’s not possible, but I don’t know."

The preliminary proposal for the 30,000-square-foot, two-story building — which would hold city hall, the police department and a library — is set for discussion at a 7 p.m. council meeting Dec. 17.

"The design is appropriate for the downtown area and is intended to be somewhat modest," City Administrator Dave O’Leary said. "We don’t want to build any Taj Mahals. We want to build something that is useful and durable."

The project could be under construction at the earliest in three years, Walty said.

The civic center idea stems from the need for a new library, city and library officials said.

Space is tight in some city offices, which are scattered in former houses near North Cove Park. The police station is an old gray house on top of a knoll by the park.

The city and Sno-Isle Library System have split the cost of an $18,000 feasibility study to learn whether building a civic center on about three acres near North Cove Park can be done.

The idea is to have all three services in one large building, with a view of the lake from the library’s sitting room.

In 1996, community members told city leaders they didn’t want the building to wall off the lake and park from the rest of downtown. Many said they wanted the civic center grounds to become a cultural center with a small park amphitheater, a library and museum.

A downtown plan adopted by the city council in 1997 looked at the future of downtown, the commercial district and a civic center.

Construction costs of building a new center could be about $180 per square foot, said Ross Jamieson of Lewis Architects. That firm also designed libraries in Mukilteo, Marysville, Mountlake Terrace and Granite Falls.

Before a library could be built, voters would have to approve three items: adding Lake Stevens to the Sno-Isle district (the city currently contracts with the system), forming a library capital facility area and paying for a new library.

Walty said the earliest the issues would be on the ballot would be next fall.

You can call Herald Writer Kate Reardon at 425-339-3455 or send e-mail to

reardon@heraldnet.com.

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