Since Kent voters turned down a bond measure last year to build a new police station, city officials are looking at a potential remodel of existing buildings to give the department more room.
The City Council approved a $40,193 contract on June 2 with Seattle-based ARC Architects to complete a City Hall campus space efficiency project to see whether enough room can be found.
“This is a conversation that came out of the council retreat earlier this year as ways to address our public safety space needs,” said Parks Director Jeff Watling, who also oversees city facilities, at a May 28 meeting of the Council’s Parks, Recreation and Community Services Committee. “The premise behind this agreement is that we conduct a thorough analysis of our existing square footage here at our City Hall campus.”
The city has about 125,000 square feet of office space spread among City Hall, the Centennial Center, the police station and the City Hall annex.
“We want to utilize the expertise of an experienced architect and really do a deep dive into how we are currently occupying that square footage and are there efficiencies to be found, ways that we can occupy and organize ourselves in a more efficient fashion that might give us enough efficiencies to address our public safety needs,” Watling said.
Voters failed to give the 60-percent approval needed in November to pass a $34 million bond measure that would have raised property taxes to build a new police station at the same location as the current facility, which was remodeled in 1991 to handle about 75 officers. The force has more than 140 officers and expects to reach as many as 160 by 2016.
“This is definitely something the council wanted to see happen after the failure to get 60 percent of the voters to support a new police station, although a majority supported it,” Councilman Dennis Higgins said about the study. “I’m glad to see it moving forward.”
Higgins said he often gets asked by residents why the city doesn’t use empty buildings in the nearby downtown area for additional space. He asked Watling if that option might be part of the study.
“Perhaps as a second phase,” Watling said. “We really need to answer this first question of do we have enough square footage in this 125,000 square feet to find some efficiencies within that? I suppose if the answer is no, then maybe a next phase can be OK, where is some nearby space that can help us.”
ARC Architects is expected to finish the study by the end of October. The results of the study could lead to a second phase of work to be approved if enough space could be found.
“I would anticipate a second phase of work of how do we reorganize and shift people around and how do we go about sequencing that?” Watling said.
City Chief Administrative Officer Derek Matheson, Watling and a work group of city employees will oversee the study. Watling will report back to the council in the fall with results of the study.
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