New civic center manifests Marysville’s dream of a ‘one-stop shop’

MARYSVILLE — Marysville’s new civic center officially welcomed residents at an open house Tuesday night, marking the realization of a dream city leaders have held for nearly three-quarters of a century.

The new civic center at 501 Delta Ave. houses City Hall, along with the municipal court and offices for most city departments. Next door is the municipal jail and police headquarters.

The campus came in at $66 million, city spokesperson Rilee Louangphakdy said. When work began in 2020, The Daily Herald reported the project was expected to cost $47.6 million.

At Tuesday’s open house, Mayor Jon Nehring characterized the campus as a “one-stop shop” for nearly all of the city’s services.

That’s a big change from the past couple of decades, when departments were scattered across numerous buildings, said City Council member Peter Condyles.

Since the city’s founding in 1891, no fewer than six city halls have sprung up and been phased out. The most recent location at 1049 State Ave. was intended when it opened in 2003 as a “temporary” fix for the growing city’s needs, with the intention of building a larger campus within 10 years, Condyles said. The Great Recession of 2008 put those plans on hold indefinitely, and city staff made do with its cramped confines up through the new center’s groundbreaking in 2020.

In his capacity as president of the Marysville Historical Society, Condyles said he’d found evidence from as early as 1950 that city officials had been dreaming of an all-in-one campus for the whole city government.

The new campus tied together many moving parts from civic buildings past, Condyles said.

One remnant from previous incarnations of the building hangs in the hallway facing City Council’s modern, sleek new chambers. Ten paintings depict Marysville history from its first general store to its vital lumber industry and its iconic water tower in earthy watercolor tones. The art was created for the city’s centennial by locally renowned painter Bernie Weber, said city communications manager Connie Mennie, and had been hanging in the public safety building since.

“They were beautiful there, and anyone who saw them appreciated them, but they weren’t getting their due hanging there relatively out of sight,” Mennie said. “Now, 30 years later, they’re as beautiful as ever and more folks will hopefully be able to see them.”

The project also updated Comeford Park, directly adjacent to the civic center, with new public restrooms, landscaping and a plaza with seating for outdoor events. The new plaza sits where the Ken Baxter Community Center, the site of City Hall from 1950 to 1997, once stood.

Mennie said the plaza had been inaugurated with this year’s Merrysville for the Holidays event, where it was “a hit” with attendees. Plans for a farmers’ market and summer concerts in the open space could take shape soon, Mennie said.

From the plaza, passersby can see dozens of gleaming copper spheres dangling from the ceiling over the center’s main stairwell. Sculpted by Bellingham artist Susan Zoccola, the light glinting off the installation mirrored the lit Christmas tree visible across the plaza through the wall-to-wall windows.

Longtime Marysville residents Diane and Marvin Nehring — the parents of Mayor Jon Nehring — said the open house was their first time seeing the new campus. Marvin Nehring said the space, designed in part by Everett architecture firm Botesch, Nash and Hall, was a “welcome change” from the relatively tight space of the previous City Hall, and more aesthetically pleasing to boot.

“You can tell the planners looked to the future with the design,” Marvin Nehring said. “It’s accessible to everyone, it’s high-tech, it feels spacious and welcoming. And it looks at home in the Pacific Northwest.”

Riley Haun: 425-339-3192; riley.haun@heraldnet.com; Twitter: @RHaunID.