City jumping in with both feet
West Kelowna city council has named the company that will design the municipality’s new city hall.
Johnston Davidson Architecture will design the 45,000-square-foot building that will also house the West Kelowna branch of the Okanagan Regional Library and, possibly, the offices of the local MLA and MP.
“Now that construction of the Rose Valley Water Treatment Plant is well underway, along with our expanded road and sidewalk programs in the city, council can proceed with other priority projects, including our first City Hall/library building with the Okanagan Regional Library Board,” said Mayor Gord Milsom.
“This is an exciting equity partnership that benefits our community. And, we’re looking forward to further developing our community partnerships to make the Westbank Centre a vibrant civic-centre area that serves the Greater Westside.”
The new building will be located on Old Okanagan Highway in Westbank, adjacent to the Johnson Bentley Memorial Aquatic Centre.
The library will take up 15,000-square feet of space in the building and the MLA and MP offices will be part of the 30,000-square-feet apportioned to the city if that plan proceeds, said West Kelowna chief administrative officer Paul Gipps.
He said MLA Ben Stewart and MP Dan Albas would be tenants of the city, while the ORL will be responsible for its own space in the building.
The naming of the design team and the awarding of the $953,000 contract marks the beginning of the project’s preliminary design phase, which will include public consultation starting this spring.
Construction is slated to start in the summer, with the sub-structure completed by the end of the year and the building complete and ready to be occupied by the end of 2022, said Gipps.
The city will pay up to $18 million for its portion of the building, with the ORL also contributing financially.
Last year, city council approved an $11 million borrowing scheme that did not require a referendum to be held.
The borrowed funds will be added to $7 million to be taken from reserves.
A referendum to borrow money to build a new city hall on Brown Road in Westbank as part of a public-private partnership was defeated in 2016.
The city says a new City Hall is required because the municipal government has outgrown the space it uses at Mount Boucherie rec centre.
With construction of the new building, the space now used for council offices will be returned to community as recreation and public meeting space. The city currently has 256 employees, working out of a variety of locations across the city.
The new City Hall will be located on city-owned land.
As for the ORL, its chief executive officer said he was excited by the project and the space the library will have in the building.
“Modern libraries are a vibrant community hub,” said Don Nettleton.
“We are excited that the other adjacent community services available in this new location and project will provide a synergy that could not be achieved alone, which will benefit the citizens of West Kelowna and the surrounding area.”
One question that does remain in the future of the adjacent skateboard park at the aquatic centre site.
Gipps said that will be looked at and council has made it clear that construction of the new City Hall will not close the skateboard park.
Any changes that need to be made, will be made before the new City Hall is built, he said.