Mt. Angel weighs new city hall
Professional scrutiny of Mt. Angel’s 88-year-old city hall building that began 1 1/2 years ago spurred a council decision this month to keep moving toward developing a brand-new facility.
Turns out, City Hall, built in 1929 and home to all municipal services – including the police department – is made of hollow clay tiles. Commonly used in the 1920s and 1930s, these tiles can shatter in an earthquake and break when being attached to modern seismic materials.
Repairing such construction is “generally too expensive to be justifiable on its own merits,” MSC Engineering, of Salem, personnel told councilors last spring. Thus began the city’s look at constructing a new building altogether.
“The City of Mt. Angel has done many things to make this building last over the years,” said City Manager Amber Mathiesen. “We’ve made it work well beyond its prime.”
At the July council meeting, LRS Architects, of Portland, unveiled a pair of conceptual 12,000-square-foot buildings that would cost an estimated $10 million. Both options call for a teardown of the current building and its transformation into a town square and/or parking area.
The city already owns almost enough property across Church Street from its current home to accommodate a half-block facility with a two-story building and parking lot for police vehicles and the public, Mathiesen said.
Or the city could buy a full or half-block lot somewhere else in town. Councilors have identified an area – within walking distance of the current structure – in which they’d like to stay.
Architects interviewed city staff and police officers to come up with two-story and one-story building concepts. Both plans split 12,000 square feet evenly between the police department and other services such as public works.
These employees now operate out of about 5,000 square feet. Ultimately, any new building’s size will ultimately depend on what the city can afford, said architect Paul Boundy.
That and the building’s appearance – whether Bavarian, modern, Northwest or some other style – will be up to Mt. Angel’s citizens to decide. Residents will soon be invited to collaborate on the planning process, Mathiesen said.
"This is a great time to get input from the community,” she said. “Here in Mt. Angel, we have our own unique feel.”
In the coming weeks, city staff will focus on how to pay for a large project in a town with an annual budget of just $8 million.
Asking voters to fund a municipal bond will almost certainly be the largest piece of the funding puzzle, but there other options too. Private grants and government programs may help; councilors have shied away from the idea of leasing from a private developer, Mathiesen said.
The highly publicized grant dollars from the State of Oregon now flowing into schools and emergency service buildings to make them earthquake safe are only available for retrofits, not new construction.
To see LRS Architects’ two concept drawings for new Mt. Angel City Hall facilities, log on to http://www.ci.mt-angel.or.us/general/page/new-city-hallpolice-facility-being-considered and download the attached files.
