MARYSVILLE — This summer and fall will go a long way toward determining the future look of downtown — and of city government as well.
Studies on how to remake the area around Fourth Street and Ebey Slough and on how a new city hall would fit into that scenario are gaining speed.
Consultants doing those studies are expected to have suggestions by the end of the year, city officials said.
A Seattle urban design company, Makers, has been gathering information about downtown since early this year. Now the city will pay the firm an additional amount to also study the best place for a new civic center.
The firm was paid $75,000 for the downtown study, and Monday the City Council voted to add $20,230 to the contract for a total of $95,230.
The council also voted Monday to hire Public-Private Development Solutions of Edmonds to develop a plan for the civic campus. That company will bill the city on an hourly basis until the work is done, officials said.
City employees are scattered around town in four places and outgrew those buildings several years ago, city administrator Mary Swenson said. The city has rented its current headquarters at 1049 State Ave. since 2003.
The city owns property around Comeford Park, a block north of Fourth Street on State Avenue, and around the current planning and public works building near Ebey Slough. Those sites, though, aren’t the only candidates for a new civic campus.
The city could buy new property if it proves to be a better location, Swenson said.
“What we want to do is make sure the location that’s picked for the complex is the right one to help spur some other development in the downtown area,” she said.
Also, in terms of location for a city hall, “transportation’s a big one,” assistant city administrator Paul Roberts said.
Part of the work is determining how large city hall should be and what all should be located there, Roberts said. That’s Public-Private Development Solutions’ job.
The city is looking at consolidating most of its departments on the new campus, including police, but probably not maintenance crews.
“We need to sort that question out,” Roberts said.
The earliest the city could begin construction on a new civic campus would be 2010, he said.
“That would be a very ambitious schedule,” he said.
Reporter Bill Sheets: 425-339-3439 or sheets@heraldnet.com.
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