The city of Prairie Village is moving forward with a plan to construct a new city hall on the site of a Mission Road church.
The Prairie Village City Council in a 8-1 vote Tuesday night approved a proposed site layout for a new city hall, which is to be built where the Mission Road Bible Church sits at 7820 Mission Road, just south of the city’s current municipal complex.
Councilmember Lori Sharp cast the lone dissenting vote. Councilmembers Tyler Agniel, Nick Reddell and Inga Selders were absent.
Tuesday night’s vote came after a lengthy discussion centered around Sharp’s attempt to postpone a vote and change the city’s course from building a new city hall entirely to merely renovating the church structure.
The city council also voted Tuesday unanimously to authorize city staff to begin issuing temporary notes — essentially borrowing money — to cover the $4.5 million offer the city has put on the Mission Road church property.’
What you may have missed
Prairie Village has been talking about upgrading its aging municipal complex since at least 2022, largely due to concerns about overcrowding at the existing building at 7700 Mission Road.
Last March, the city settled on a plan to build a new city hall — and make renovations to the connected police department headquarters. The city council capped the total project cost at $31 million.
Last summer, the city entered a contract to buy the Mission Road Bible Church. Some councilmembers said the church site, just south of the the current city hall, would make for a better option for a new city hall project, while others believed a demolition and new building would be the best path forward.
In November, the city council directed city staff to move forward with a roughly $30 million option for a newly built city hall at the church site, 7820 Mission Road, and a renovated police department and municipal complex at 7700 Mission Road.
Other options on the table at that time included a heavy renovation of the church building, which was estimated to cost $32 to $38 million.
In December, the city council approved the purchase of the church property and the offering of temporary notes to buy the property. The city anticipates closing on the church property on Feb. 13.
City Engineer Melissa Prenger told the city council on Tuesday that city staff is working to keep the total project cost at $30 million.
The property purchase and the police department renovations account for $12.5 million, and the remaining $17.5 million is going toward a new city hall building — including design, site work and construction.
A look at the approved site layout
- The public parts of the approved site layout for the new city hall include city council chambers and a multipurpose room, which will seat about 180 people combined, Prenger told the city council on Tuesday.
- Additionally, there is also room for an art corridor where the city’s art council receptions can be held as well as a women’s, men’s and family restroom.
- Most of the non-publicly accessible spaces in the new layout are dedicated to the city staff offices, a break room, three conference rooms and restrooms that will be shared with the city council.
- Police Chief Eric McCullough told the city council that the current plan for police department renovations at the current municipal complex site will meet the department’s needs and provide more room for future expansion.
- Prenger confirmed for the city council that there are no cardio rooms planned in the new city hall layout.
Residents split on issue during public comments
- Nearly a dozen residents spoke about the new city hall project to the city council on Tuesday, with the comments fairly split among supporters and opponents of the plan.
- Those like Melinda Lewis and Mary O’Leary who said they support the new city hall project, also said they were in favor of the city earning a Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design certification as part of the project, a designation recognizing environmentally sustainable building projects.
- But resident Tom Ward urged the city council to postpone the decision on buying the church, though the city council has already approved acquiring the property.
- Still, Ward encouraged the city to get more resident input on the new city hall project and take the idea to a public vote.
Discussion veers into talk of renovating church
After public comments, Councilmember Lori Sharp motioned from the dais to postpone a vote on the city hall site layout for two weeks and also direct city staff to look at a less expensive renovation of the church property.
Sharp said she wants to “at least explore the idea of the church instead of just tearing that building down.”
“I don’t feel like we have fully looked at or even just cursorily looked at what we could’ve done with the church as far as utilizing the building that it is,” Sharp said.
Supported only by Councilmember Dave Robinson, Sharp’s motion ultimately failed — but only after a lively discussion about whether city staff had already thoroughly vetted other renovation scenarios for the church property.
Robinson said as someone who has supported this project from the start, he “just want(s) to make sure that we do it right.”
Councilmember Greg Shelton said the work of vetting possible church renovation options had already been done by city staff and presented to the city council.
Shelton said that previous work showed that the city would only need to use about half of the existing church space, and suggested other councilmembers either read or reacquaint themselves with previous packets. (Shelton is the husband of Post Publisher Jay Senter’s sister.)
‘Just a huge bugaboo’
Councilmember Ian Graves then made a motion for council to take a five-minute recess so city staff could again show councilmembers previous presentations about renovation options at the church property.
Prenger told the city council after the five-minute recess that in the Nov. 18 packet, it was clearly “stated that there were low-level renovations that were not explored” because city staff felt the city’s needs for a new city hall space would be unmet.
Graves said he saw no point in going back down the route of discussing renovating the church. He said the reason he supported buying the church was to demolish the building and construct a new city hall on new city-owned land.
“My sole support, personally, for acquiring this property was to demolish that building and to place city hall there because we would, on net, be getting a new building that meets our programming needs on new land,” Graves said.
“And getting into this is just a huge bugaboo, and I’m not interested, so I don’t see any need to go down this any further,” Graves added.
The city council ultimately voted 7-2 against Sharp’s motion to postpone the site layout vote and directing city staff to explore a light renovation of the church, with Sharp and Dave Robinson the two votes in favor of it.
After that vote, the city council voted again — this time 8-1 — in favor of the site layout city staff originally presented on Tuesday, with Sharp casting the lone “no” vote.
Robinson finally voted in favor of the new layout after voting for Sharp’s failed motion, saying he felt there were some unchecked boxes but ultimately wanted to see the project move ahead.
Next steps:
- Prenger said given the change in location, she needs to take the site plan back before the Prairie Village Planning Commission for approval, likely in March or April.
- City staff also needs to continue to work on the design of the new city hall and police department renovations, including an updated exterior design.
- Specific LEED options and costs are going to be discussed and decided on a later date, as well, Prenger said.
Go deeper: Watch the entire Jan. 21 conversation about the municipal complex site layout online here, starting at 3:15:38. (The temporary notes discussion starts at 3:04:35.)
