SEQUIM — Though it will require another eight months or so to complete, the gleaming metal frame of the new Sequim Civic Center already towers over downtown.
Lydig Construction of Seattle is building the new 33,000-square-foot civic center, designed by Integrus Architecture of Seattle, under an $11.85 million contract.
Including land acquisition and other costs, the new facility is projected to cost just more than $16 million.
City Manager Steve Burkett is clearly proud of the new facility, which upon completion will house virtually all of the city’s various officials and, for brief times, its ne’er-do-wells.
On a tour last week, Burkett, accompanied by Ed Griffin, the project manager for Lydig, pointed out the features of the new complex, which includes the city’s new police station.
Burkett said the work is on schedule and on budget.
Some of the changes are hidden from the eye, including the power and other utility lines that been buried along the alley that runs along the new building’s Spruce Street (north) side.
Other features are more obvious, including the peaked metal roof that reaches high above the surrounding rooftops.
The majority of the first floor is dedicated to the Sequim Police Department, which currently operates out of leased space in Sequim Village Shopping Center.
The entry to the police station is on the west side of the building and is serviced by its own dedicated parking lot.
The cost of the facility was bumped up by the special requirements of police operations, including heavy-duty concrete block-built holding cells where police can place suspects for up to 48 hours.
The new police armory is also built with security in mind, with rebar bristling around a thick steel plate embedded in the concrete floor.
Other parts of the building are decidedly more friendly, including the large and airy lobby on the east end of the building that will receive visitors arriving through the W. Cedar Street (south) entrance.
The foyer of the Cedar Street entrance includes a “safe room,” a small, secure area where someone who feels they are in danger can lock themselves in for protection.
Burkett said the idea has caught on in other cities where the police station may not be manned 24 hours a day. The room is equipped with a phone that victims can use to call police.
The new council chambers are located adjacent to the lobby and include a bathroom, small kitchen and a meeting room where the council can convene for executive session or where other community gatherings can be held.
A number of administrative offices will also be located on the first floor, including the city’s finance offices.
To the east, a new outdoor plaza will extend several hundred feet to North Sequim Avenue.
Burkett said the current plan — and the current funding — call for a basic plaza, but that it will be enhanced as additional funding becomes available.
Barbara Hanna, city spokeswoman, said the new space should prove a magnet for those living, working and visiting downtown.
“We hope they’ll visit and enjoy the plaza,” she said.
The second floor of the civic center is divided into three long sections running the east-west length of the building.
The south side will host the administration offices, including Burkett’s new office.
The Public Works Department will be installed on the north side.
The middle area will be filled with cubicles.
Hanna noted that the design provides plenty of outdoor light, both for those in offices along the outer walls and those working in the cubicles in the center space.
The second floor also features a cafeteria adjoining a small outdoor patio.
Burkett said he expects “about 50” employees will move into the space when it opens next summer.
He said it provides room to grow, with space for perhaps as many as 70 employees if the need arises over the coming decades.
The facility is being financed through a number of means, including a September decision by a split City Council to issue revenue bonds for the $3 million share of the civic center construction that will be paid by the city’s water and sewer utilities.
The city is paying for the project primarily with a $10,439,000 bond issued at a 4.53 percent interest rate last July.
The bonds will be repaid from several sources: $225,000 annually from a public safety tax approved by voters in 2012; $200,000 from eliminating the current rent for city office space, including the Sequim Village Shopping Center spaces; $75,000 from the real estate excise tax; and $160,000 from excess budget capacity.
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Reporter Mark St.J. Couhig can be reached at 360-452-22345, ext. 5074, or at mcouhig@peninsuladailynews.com.
