MUKILTEO — The city has spent thousands of dollars, countless hours of staff time and numerous public meetings studying whether the aging Rosehill Community Center should be renovated or replaced.
Now, with a vote on the building’s fate set for next week, the Mukilteo City Council appears split on what should happen next.
Half the council wants to hold an election for Mukilteo residents to decide what happens to Rosehill. The other half is leaning toward settling the matter at Monday night’s meeting. Council members on both sides of the question have said they’re waiting to hear from the public.
“I think we should decide, that’s why we were elected,” Councilman Tony Tinsley said. “We’ve been studying this issue for several years now.”
Councilman Marko Liias, who has said he’s leaning toward putting the issue on the ballot, said the council voted in 2005 to put Rosehill on the ballot.
“We’ll have to decide whether to continue that policy or whether we want to decide the issue on Monday,” Liias said.
The City Council is in the midst of reviewing three plans for Rosehill Community Center, located at 304 Lincoln Ave. The first design option is to preserve the building. The second is to preserve the building’s exterior and rebuild its interior.
Option three is to tear down Rosehill and build a new community center.
The first design option, to renovate and preserve the building as it is, would cost the city an estimated $13 million. To renovate the outside but redo the interior would cost an estimated $15.3 million. To start from scratch and build a new community center would cost an estimated $16.2 million. The costs are more expensive than figures given earlier this month because they include profits and fees for general contractors, Liias said.
City Council members reviewed the plans again at a work session Monday.
The city could be eligible for up to $1 million in state grant funding for historic preservation if it chooses one of the renovation options, city officials said. However, the city is still researching whether grant funding would be jeopardized by changing the building’s interior.
Also, the two renovation plans were changed so that each features an amphitheater in the southeast corner of the Rosehill property. Council members asked for that change because the plan for a new community center included an amphitheater and plaza near the front of the building.
Most of the logistics are ironed out. Now the council must decide what to do.
“I wouldn’t be opposed to letting the people vote on it, but it’s got to be something that’s realistic,” said Councilman Kevin Stoltz, who said he favors making a decision Monday.
Councilman Randy Lord, who enjoys learning about history, said the city should learn from the ancient Greeks.
“The Greeks tried a pure democracy, and they fell into chaos because they couldn’t get anything done,” he said.
Reporter Scott Pesznecker: 425-339-3436 or spesznecker@heraldnet.com.
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