By James Day
On a warm Friday night a crowd of more than 100 people gathered to participate in a ceremony noting the new Silverton City Hall.
The $19.5 million project replaces the City Hall about a half mile down Water Street. The old building is no longer big enough to accommodate city staff and it is seismically unsafe.
A series of speakers told the winding tale of the building’s creation, a 20-year process that was buffeted by recession and required the work and perseverance of multiple mayors and city managers.
The plan morphed through the years, with earlier phases calling for a new Police Department to be built first and a structure for city staff to be added later. City officials were adamant about not wanting to take a bond to the voters. Instead, they negotiated a 25-year loan at 3.17% to pay for the building. Construction delays and tweaks and alterations to the original plans came and went, as they do in most projects of this magnitude.
And the building remains unfinished. City officials and contractors still are working through a “punch list” of little items to be buffed and polished. The elevator has been installed, but the permit has not been nailed down. And the furniture still must arrive and be installed.
The emptiness of the building made for tours similar to those of new homes that have not yet been furnished. Instead, the prospective owners had to use their imaginations about what the building ultimately will look like.
“At long last the City of Silverton has a new City Hall it can be proud of,” said former Mayor, City Manager and Police Chief Rick Lewis, now representing the Silverton area in the state Legislature. “It will serve the city for years to come.”
The speeches were loaded with thank yous as well as warnings of a sort. Given the always-present challenge of a major Cascadia Subduction Zone earthquake, Col. Peter Walker of the Oregon National Guard noted the importance of the building as Silverton’s emergency operations center in case of a natural disaster.
“I love this facility,” said current Mayor Jason Freilinger. “I think it’s very attractive and I’m looking forward to having the City Council conduct its meetings right here.”
That first City Council session in the building might come as early as July 1.
Former mayors Kyle Palmer and Ken Hector were on hand as well as the entire City Council, key city officials, project manager and Community Development director Jason Gottgetreu and veteran building official Daryl Jones, and former Councilor Dana Smith, a structural engineer who was described as being “the eyes and ears of the project.”
Councilor Marie Traeger organized the event.
The Silverton Mural Society and the Silverton Country Historical Society set up poster boards on Silverton’s history along the front wall of the building. The Mural Society also is working on a mural that will be erected on the east side of the building.
City officials still are working their way through the building’s finances. On June 3, the City Council amended its contract with Compass Project Solutions to add more than $59,000 in new expenses. Gottgetreu told Our Town that the project will come in under the projected $19.5 million overall budget. The construction budget was $14.75 million but that figure has increased by approximately $857,000, a 5.81% increase, Gottgetreu said.
The original schedule called for the building to open in July, 2023.
