A remodeling project at Philomath City Hall to expand office space, improve accessibility and better protect employees will enter the request for proposals phase any day now, City Manager Chris Workman announced.
A preliminary estimate of the overall project came in higher than anticipated and as a result, the city may narrow its focus.
“We’re going to put a bid out there for all the interior work and then a lot of those exterior things we’re going to put as an option,” Workman said during last week’s City Council meeting. “Depending on what the prices look like when they come in … we may pull the trigger on some of those and we may not.”
In March 2024, the City Council approved $420,316 to be included in the 2024-25 fiscal year budget for the City Hall improvements. Preliminary estimates as put together by G. Christianson Construction ranged from $516,000 to $598,000.
The changes will open up space for current employees and allow for possible staff additions — a college intern who wants to work pro bono on economic development, for example. Improving employee safety is also in the works after various incidents involving aggressive visitors to City Hall. The need exists for better accessibility standards that align with the Americans with Disabilities Act. A reconfiguration will also better serve municipal court proceedings.
Workman said there were at least three line items in the estimate that he identified as being priced much higher than needed.
“Most importantly, the interior stuff absolutely has to happen,” Workman said. “It will help with the ADA, security, expanding space, getting room for a prosecutor and the judge to have places to meet with people that aren’t in the hallway around the bathrooms — those types of things.”
Workman had said during a presentation to the City Council a year ago that he would like to see City Hall add some aesthetic features to blend with the Timber Town theme, a design that’s been encouraged to businesses as part of downtown improvements. Those could include various types of façade improvements such as siding and lighting.
“The interior stuff we can definitely do this year and I think we can get a lot of exterior stuff, too, if we remove $90,000 for replacing all the siding,” Workman said. “I don’t think we need to replace all of the siding. So there’s some big ticket items I don’t think we need to do and we can save some money.”
Workman shared concerns about getting the RFP out sooner than later with the window of opportunity to hire a contractor getting smaller as summer projects get lined up.
