MUKILTEO – The voters of Mukilteo will get a chance sometime next year to decide whether the city should remodel the Rosehill Community Center or build a new center.
The City Council voted 5-1 late Tuesday to send a measure to the ballot to give voters a choice between the two options.
The measure would involve raising property taxes to back bonds either for a remodeled Rosehill or a new building. Details of what would be included in each option and their respective costs will be determined prior to the vote and presented along with the measure on the ballot.
City Council President Cathy Reese said they do not have the money to pay for either option without asking voters for a tax hike. The city has estimated renovating the 78-year-old former school would cost between $9.3 million and $10.6 million, while building a new one would cost between $7.5 million and $9 million.
“What I would like to do is put this on the ballot and let the people of this community decide whether they want to renovate the building or if they want a new building,” Reese said.
The council’s vote did not specify when the measure would go on the ballot or how much in taxes would be sought. Next September’s primary was mentioned as a possibility.
The Rosehill building is considered seismically unsafe. The council’s measure also required city staff to develop a plan to address the safety of the building in the near future, up to and including temporarily closing it if necessary.
The council had earlier deadlocked 3-3 on a motion to preserve the building and on another to put a measure on the ballot in February. The tie, with Mayor Don Doran and Councilman J.Paul Rand absent, resulted in the defeat of each of the motions.
Jane Casselman, president of the Friends of the Community Center, a Rosehill advocacy group, had mixed feelings about the council’s action.
“I thought it was important to go in some direction,” Casselman said. “But I was disappointed that the motion for renovation did not pass,” she added, contending that the remodeling options addressed safety concerns and would provide the type of facility most residents want.
The city worked from three original estimates. The first, most expensive estimate for rehabilitation was done for the city by consultants Egis of Seattle and Reid Middleton of Everett.
The second was done for the Friends of the Community Center by RFA of Seattle and the Rafn Corp. of Bellevue.
The city generated its own estimate for a new community center, with the high-end estimate reflecting a building about the same size as the Rosehill building.
The biggest difference between the two rehab estimates, accounting for $1.3 million, was Egis’ recommendation that the building be gutted and rebuilt with steel and concrete on the inside.
Rafn, which has rehabilitated several historic buildings in Seattle, said the basic structure of the interior floors and walls could be retained.
Reid Middleton reviewed the Rafn rehab proposal and said in a letter that retaining the wooden floors and walls wouldn’t hold up as well in an earthquake as rebuilding the interior.
The two studies also disagreed by a total of $906,000 on several other items, including painting, roof replacement and Americans with Disabilities Act improvements. The city’s final numbers for each estimate use Egis’ higher numbers.
“The higher numbers are generally, probably going to be a little more accurate, from my experience,” city administrator Rich Leahy said.
Reporter Bill Sheets: 425-339-3439 or sheets@heraldnet.com.
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