Municipal complex design unveiled

Springdale officials say criminal justice facility planned with growth in mind

The Springdale Municipal Campus has been designed with the next 100 years in mind, officials said.

The design anticipates growth, said Roy Decker of Duvall Decker, the architecture firm hired to design the 80,000-square-foot criminal justice facility and improvements to 40,000 square feet of the City Administration Building, 201 Spring St., that will make up the campus.

Decker unveiled the schematic design, including renderings and models, at Tuesday’s City Council meeting.

“We know this building needs to serve the community for more than 20 years,” Decker said.

Total cost is $35.5 million, Decker said. City leaders hope to pass a bond issue next year to pay for the project.

The three-story criminal justice facility will house the Police Department, which will be about 60,000 square feet, the district court and city attorney’s office. All three are now inside the administration building that was designed in 1993.

Community and municipal needs have outgrown the administration building, Decker said. He cited statistics that show the growth of city employees who work in the administration building and the city’s population since 1993.

Mayor Doug Sprouse agreed accommodations have become outdated.

“Our court is completely

swamped with 25,000 cases a year for a courtroom that seats no more than 100 people, not to mention the working conditions for a growing court staff that is completely out of room,” Sprouse said.

The new court will seat 300 people, Decker said.

District Court Judge Jeff Harper presides over misdemeanor cases such as traffic violations in the courtroom.

“There’s times we have to put people out in the lobby because we have too many people in the courtroom. I have to send my bailiff out to the lobby to call their name,” Harper said.

Harper said the new design also will address security concerns he has had, such as several inmates being lined up across from him all at once.

“We realized we had a problem in June 2013 when a prisoner who was lined up with other prisoners came at me in the courtroom, screaming, yelling and cussing,” Harper said.

Doug Norwood, an attorney who has defended clients in that courtroom for more than 30 years, said some security improvements have been made over the past year.

Inmates are now kept in a holding cell that has a window he can see them through, and he can communicate with them through audio setup, Harper said. The new courtroom will further improve that setup, he said.

Parts of the administration building, such as the jail, will be torn out and the exterior will be redone to complement the criminal justice building, Decker said.

The criminal justice complex will not have a jail for misdemeanor prisoners. City officials want to send those inmates to the Washington County Detention Center in Fayetteville.

Remodeling the administration building will happen after the criminal justice building is built, Decker said.

The building inspection office at 107 Spring St. and community engagement office, across the street from the administration building, will move into renovated portions of the administration building.

A new City Council chamber will be built on the second floor. The current council chamber will be converted into a public meeting space, said Melissa Reeves, the city’s public relations director.

The style of the Shiloh Meeting Hall, 222 W. Huntsville Ave.; Chamber of Commerce, 202 W. Emma Ave.; and other service buildings had an influence on the municipal campus’ design, Decker said

Springdale-based Milestone Construction will build the criminal justice complex and complete the administration building renovations.

Milestone recently completed Turnbow Park downtown. The city accepted Milestone’s $1.7 million bid to take over work in late December after the city fired contractor JLA Construction of Springfield, Mo., in November.

Milestone also was construction manager on C.L. “Charlie” and Willie George Park at 4023 Hylton Road in the city’s southeast section.

Duvall Decker and Milestone came up with the $35.5 million budget.

The council approved a $3.3 million Walton Family Foundation grant in December to cover design work and renovation plans. The council in May approved hiring Duvall Decker, which did the designs for a combined cost of $3,250,508.

The design includes extensive parking and a square that will unite the administration building with the new criminal justice complex.

Tony Haggard, who has lived on Spring Street for more than 10 years, anticipates the city will want to buy his home to develop the campus. Decker and Sprouse said purchasing and clearing surrounding private property will not be done for the municipal campus project. However, a vast park between the campus and Razorback Greenway, which runs along the Shiloh Museum, is planned in accordance with the Downtown Master Plan, Decker said.

“It will make the downtown really nice,” Haggard said. “I’m sure they’ll be fair with me.”

Decker anticipates construction will start at end of next year. The criminal justice facility will be finished by the end of 2019 and the administration building will be finished by the end of 2020.