City Hall remodel to add ADA access, use space

COEUR d'ALENE — If more than a couple people enter the elevator in Coeur d'Alene City Hall, they'll find the old elevator is a bit of a tight squeeze.

The building's restrooms have the same issue; those in larger wheelchairs just don't have a lot of room to get in and out.

"There’s really not a lot of space to maneuver," Coeur d'Alene city clerk Renata McLeod said Monday.

The building was constructed in 1978, more than a decade before the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) became law. This is one reason why the city is moving forward with plans for an ADA enhancement and remodel project for City Hall.

"We feel like it’s time to bring us up into ADA-accessible standards," McLeod said. "And when you start moving one space, it affects another space and another space, so it's kind of a domino effect."

The city council approved an architectural services contract with Longwell + Trapp Architects at the March 15 city council meeting. The budget estimate for the two-phase project is about $1.65 million.

"That’s what we anticipate, according to an architect’s estimate," said city finance director Troy Tymesen.

"And that includes the architect fees," McLeod added. "For anybody who’s out there bidding, we expect them to come in less than $1.6 (million)."

Along with bringing the building into ADA compliance, the remodel would allow the city's criminal division to be housed in City Hall with the other departments. The criminal division is presently located at 816 Sherman Ave.

"We were there because of the partnership that we stepped into with the University of Idaho when they moved into that building and the city of Coeur d'Alene moved everybody except for the wastewater lab out of that building at Harbor Center," Tymesen explained. "That was a 2002 transaction."

Having the criminal department in City Hall will eliminate the $36,132 yearly rent the city is paying to use that space.

"We want to get out of renting and put everybody together, so we will get the savings from that," Tymesen said.

The drafted master remodel plan will place the criminal department in the old city council chambers, which are no longer used for city council meetings since the council meets in the Coeur d'Alene Public Library.

The labyrinthine City Hall building used to house the Coeur d'Alene Police Department, which relocated to Schreiber Way in 1998. The old police station is now home to other departments while former holding cells and the former photo processing room are used for storage.

City staff seriously started looking at remodeling in 2003, but it wasn't feasible then.

"We looked to the future. We spent a fair amount of money going, ‘How big is the municipal services department going to be?’" Tymesen said. "We standardized what the square footage should be, what the space for meeting rooms should be, looked at the same restrooms that I can show you today that haven’t changed at all since 2003. We came up with a total big number, and in that situation, we did not have the cash to get it done."

Building a new facility was also something that was contemplated but not practical.

"That always was the stopping point of the project because when you look at building new, it’s so expensive," McLeod said. "That pricetag would just stop conversations."

The remodel is now something that can become a reality. One source of funds would come from the sale of a Fruitland Avenue property the city owns. Another source is the property trade and sale of the old library building on Harrison Avenue, which would provide $515,000 for the project. This step will require a public hearing prior to its completion.

Staff recommended financing $1 million through a bank lease agreement, with lease payments costing about $5,500 per month.

"Right now, we do have a healthy fund balance," McLeod said. "We’ve got good expected revenues."

McLeod said the remodel will not be anything fancy and won't really affect the exterior of the building, but it would allow for better use of space as well as better accessibility to the customer service center. The plan would add an ADA-accessible family restroom to each level while shuffling departments to maximize the use of each area.

It would also resolve some HVAC inefficiencies as well as security issues.

"We want to tighten up some of our internal securities," McLeod said. "Right now it’s a pretty free-flow, open environment and in this day and age, it’s just not safe for all of our employees. We’re looking at the magnetized employee doors."

Phase 1 construction drawings still need to be completed, and the architect needs to do that before he can bid out the construction portion of the project, McLeod said.

"We are hopeful that, with the construction drawings being done in approximately three months, we could bid it out shortly thereafter," she said. "Then it's all dependent on what we get back for bids."

This plan was not in the budget before this fiscal year, so the council needs to approve amendments to the budget as well as any contracts that will be involved, she said.

"As we go forward with the bid, they’ll have to approve the contract with the lowest responsive bid," McLeod said. "There are definitely check-in points at the council."

"Council has not said 'Yes' to it by any stretch," Tymesen said of the proposed plan. "It just gives us a viable option rather than using all our cash or potentially going out for a potential obligation bond to look very seriously at this remodel."

City staff members intend to keep City Hall open during construction.