Page 6 - Flathead Beacon // 10.22.14

6 | OCTOBER 22, 2014 NEWS
Whitefish Moves Forward with City Hall Design Plans
FLATHEADBEACON.COM
Cost estimates for high- ticket downtown building and parking structure could be $14.6 million
By TRISTAN SCOTT of the Beacon
As the city of Whitefish moves forward with its final design plans for a new down- town city hall and parking structure, of- ficials continue to grapple with cost esti- mates and a final design schematic.
One estimate recently presented to the Whitefish City Council puts the building’s price tag at $14.6 million, but the total cost could be considerably less depending on the size and design of the building.
Mosaic Architecture submitted sever- al cost estimates for the construction of the city hall and parking structure, with the highest projected budget estimate of $14.6 million accounting for a 30,000-square- foot building and full basement.
A two-story city hall with a half-floor basement and parking structure would cost approximately $12 million, according to Mosaic’s estimates, while a full base- ment would cost an additional $500,0000, while a third floor would add roughly $950,000.
If the building includes retail space at the corner of East First Street and Baker Avenue, another $687,000 would be re- quired in the budget.
Ben Tintinger, of Mosaic, met with the city’s building steering committee on Oct. 15, and said mixing and matching design concepts from two final schematics is pos- sible.
The council will now move into the second phase of design work while the steering committee hashes out design de- tails for the final schematic.
Mosaic Architecture was awarded the design contract for the city hall and park- ing garage complex earlier this year, and Tintinger met with the steering commit-
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Whitefish City Hall rendering.
tee again to settle the differences between the two design schemes.
“We are all very excited about the di- rection as well as the working relationship of the entire project team. The planning has gone very smoothly thus far and we are quickly moving into the schematic design phase,” according to Tintinger.
In 2011, the council established the steering committee to help usher the di- visive project to fruition. The project was approved only after a months-long process during which council members clashed over fundamental differences about whether using a full city block in down- town Whitefish is an appropriate use of the property.
The city initially earmarked $11.5 mil- lion for the project, which passed after Whitefish Mayor John Muhlfeld cast a tie- breaking vote in favor of building at the current city hall location.
The committee is composed of Muhl- feld, a city council member, city staff, a licensed architect, members of the public
and representatives from the Whitefish Chamber of Commerce and the Heart of Whitefish downtown support group.
A new City Hall building has been in the cards for Whitefish since 1987 when it was identified as a priority in an urban renew- al plan. In 2005, a downtown master plan also specified the need for a new facility.
Whitefish city employees are spread out across several locations and the exist- ing building is outmoded, according to the downtown master plan. The city looked at remodeling the existing building, but it wasn’t logistical or financially feasible due to structural deficiencies.
The parking structure will range from 190 to 265 parking spots, while a study showed the need for 200 additional down- town parking spaces during periods of high demand and congestion in the down- town area.
More information is available at the city of Whitefish website at http://www. cityofwhitefish.org.
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