Prairie Village has narrowed down a footprint for the new city hall project.
The Prairie Village City Council last week asked staff to move forward with plans to build a new city hall that will cost between $28.6 and $30.2 million with a footprint of roughly 23,800 square feet. The new city hall would be built without a courtroom inside.
With this plan, the new courtroom would be built as an addition to the police department where the current city hall sits. Additionally, this option calls for building a new city hall as a one-story facility and on a new location on the southern part of the current parking lot, just east of the skate park.
A closer look at each of the five options on the table
The fifth option, Option 3E — which the city council favored — calls for a one-story building sitting at 18,000 square feet. It calls for a roughly 5,600-square-foot addition to the police department, assuming the current city hall would be demolished and the courtroom could be built on top of it.
This option costs between $28.6 million and $30.2 million, and when the courtroom addition and new stand-alone city hall square footage numbers are combined, totals 23,800 square feet.
Here’s a look at the other options:
- Option 3A, $31.4 million to $33.4 million — The original new construction option presented to the city council this summer. Two-story, 24,000-square-foot building with a courtroom. Each subsequent option presented by city staff on Monday was a variation of 3A.
- Option 3B, $30.5 million to $31.3 million — A two-story building with council chambers but without a courtroom, totaling 23,000 square feet.
- Option 3C, $31.4 million to $32.2 million — A two-story building without a courtroom, but with a centralized location for the city council chambers, totaling 24,000 square feet.
- Option 3D, $26.7 million to $28.2 million — A one-story building option with centralized city council chambers, totaling about 20,800 square feet, and located closer to the skate park than Option 3E calls for.
All options include leaving part of old city hall intact
Based on city council direction this summer, city staff presented five different new construction options for city hall with the added challenge of getting the cost below $30 million.
All five options and the associated cost estimates assume the following, as outlined in city documents:
- Sustainable construction being the goal, with city earning Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) Platinum certification
- A partial demolition of the existing city hall, leaving the multipurpose room wing intact
- The new building would have at least a 50-year lifespan
- Demolishing the small community center near the basketball courts on the civic campus, possibly to make room for improved access to the site.
- Funding for police department parking security enhancements and carports
Police chief and city staff favor fifth option
Chief Byron Roberson said the police department favors option 3E, which moves the courtroom where city hall currently sits.
Roberson said most police departments in Johnson County share space with municipal courts because the two interact regularly.
He said the police department taking over the multipurpose room wing is also a plus, because it allows staff to spread out — and some are “sitting on top of each other” now.
City Engineer Melissa Prenger said city staff also favor option 3E, because it works better for the police department, municipal court and others. Prenger said that even though it is not the cheapest option, the city gets “the most bang for our buck” with 3E.
City Administrator Wes Jordan said all of the city’s needs are met with the 3E option, as well.
The city plans to apply for a regional grant for this project
Jordan said the city is applying for a Mid-America Regional Council regional climate pollution reduction grant, for which MARC is looking for projects that reduce carbon emissions.
MARC found it favorable that the city recently completed another environmental study, Jordan said.
The city is submitting grant applications for both the new city hall and the possible community center project, before the projects are officially approved, he said.
Mayor Eric Mikkelson and Councilmember Dave Robinson asked about renovating the current city hall to turn it into municipal court instead of tearing it down and building a new facility.
Councilmembers Greg Shelton and Piper Reimer cautioned that renovating instead of rebuilding may impact sustainability efforts on the project.
Public Works Director Keith Bredehoeft told the city council that the LEED Platinum certification for city hall would likely only apply to the new stand-alone building — not necessarily to anything that is demolished and rebuilt, or renovated, on the current city hall site.
Qualifying projects need to be completed within five years, and the deadline to apply is Dec. 11.
Next steps:
- The city’s architect on the project is going to move into the early phases of designing the new city hall with option 3E, Prenger said.
- Two other contracts will come before the governing body after the early phase is completed, including an owner’s representative contract, Prenger said.
- Prenger said it is a bigger project than the public works building and an owner’s representative will help her with meetings and budgeting options.
Go deeper: Watch the entire conversation online here, starting at 2:16:55.
