Council Directs City Manager to Commence Planning for a New Public Safety and Maintenance Building

At the City Council Planning Session on March 1, 2024, the Council unanimously approved AB 6420 directing the City Manager to commence planning for a new Public Safety and Maintenance Building on the current City Hall campus. This new facility will replace the existing Public Works Building and provide a new combined home for the City’s Public Works teams and Police Department.

A preliminary scope and cost estimate will be presented to the Council in Q2 2024.

In early 2023, the City began a process to complete Facility Conditions Assessments (FCAs) for various municipal buildings, including City Hall, the Public Works Building, the Annex Building at the Mercer Island Community & Event Center, the Luther Burbank Administrative Building, the Mercer Island Thrift Shop, and the former Tully’s Building. Due to the emergency closure of City Hall in April 2023, this work was reprioritized to meet the most pressing needs.

Given the age and condition of the Public Works Building, the City Manager directed staff and consultants to complete a FCA for this building, while pausing assessment work on the other buildings.

The assessment identified multiple systems that are failing or in need of significant repair or investment. This information was presented to the City Council on February 6, 2024 (AB 6402).

Combined with the City’s urgent space needs for teams displaced by the City Hall closure, the City Manager recommended that the Council prioritize the Public Works Building for replacement. Council’s direction allows the City Manager to proceed with building this new facility on the existing campus.

More information about this project will be shared soon. You can review the full Let’s Talk page to learn more about the City’s Long Range Facility Planning work.