Tompkins County officials and the project design team on Tuesday presented preliminary building concepts and summarized a community survey to residents as part of a public engagement session on the proposed Tompkins County Center of Government.

The presentation, led by Monica Salvage, communications director for Tompkins County, and Quay Thompson, principal architect at Holt Architects, reviewed early survey results and showed three primary design directions that the team said are intended to balance public access, department operations and historic-district context.

County staff said the survey snapshot used for the presentation had 167 respondents at the time the slides were prepared and that the total had since approached 200. Survey respondents took an average of 24 minutes to complete the questionnaire. The team said the most frequently cited access barriers were parking and difficulty finding the correct building; respondents also requested public restrooms, secure bike parking and community meeting rooms.

"That input is really critical in terms of how we continue to progress the design forward," Salvage said during opening remarks. The team emphasized that public comments and the ongoing online survey will inform a final design to be presented in September.

Why it matters: county leaders say the project will consolidate many county services into a new, publicly accessible facility and require deconstruction of three structures within the DeWitt Park Historic District, triggering review under Section 106 of the National Historic Preservation Act of 1966. The county is asking residents for input on access, aesthetics and amenities before design decisions are finalized.

Design concepts and public amenities

Thompson and Holt Architects associate Cindy Kaufman described three exterior approaches that all keep a recessed fourth floor so the building reads as three stories from the street. Common features across concepts include a prominent lobby with a "community porch" plaza, a two‑story visual connection between lobby and upper floors, public restrooms outside security, and a one‑stop service desk on the first floor intended to handle many routine transactions for multiple departments.

"We're thinking about the center of government in a similar way" to contemporary retail and banking service models, Thompson said, describing plans for cross‑trained employees at a single public desk who can also demonstrate online services to visitors.

The team said planned public amenities include community meeting and training rooms, free-for-customer parking adjacent to the building, bike lockers and secure covered racks, and publicly accessible restrooms located before the security checkpoint so visitors can use them without entering the secure area.

Historic-district review and reuse

Salvage noted the project will include deconstructing three buildings on the site within the DeWitt Park Historic District and that the public engagement process, including the survey, provides opportunities for input consistent with Section 106 of the National Historic Preservation Act of 1966. The design team said some architectural elements from buildings slated for removal — for example, a mid‑century gate — may be reused in the new building interior or exhibits.

Next steps and public input

The county said the presentation materials and an updated survey will be posted on the project web page and that the team expects to return with a revised design in September. Attendees were encouraged to use QR codes provided at the meeting or the project website to complete the new survey; staff said the survey would remain open for several weeks.

Speakers included county communications staff and members of the Holt Architects and Fisher Associates design teams. Several members of the public and local elected officials commented during Q&A on items including downtown alternatives, maintenance and how the building will serve residents who do not drive.

The county did not present a final cost or a construction schedule at this session; those items remain under development and contingent on future design work and budget approvals.