County Presents Revised Space Plan; Board of Elections Likely to Relocate Off Main Center-of-Government

Tompkins County staff and consultants presented a revised departmental program to the Downtown Facilities Special Committee that reduces the footprint of the planned center-of-government, reallocates several departments into existing county buildings and leaves the Board of Elections’ final location unresolved.

Design consultants told the committee the new building’s program has decreased by about 8,000 square feet from earlier plans after moving some departments elsewhere. The revised plan would place Information Technology, CTC and Planning & Sustainability in the new building; Workforce (DOL/Workforce Development) and assigned counsel would occupy most of the old jail building; planning staff proposed renovating the first floor of the center-of‑government building for expanded legislative chambers and public space.

“Overall, this new plan… the building has decreased around 8,000 square foot based from the original,” the Whole Architects representative said during the program presentation.

Consultants and staff reported that the Board of Elections (BOE) has substantial needs for ground-floor access and space for voting-machine storage and training. The BOE program was reported as approximately 3,200 square feet in current leased space; consultants said fitting BOE and its machine storage into the center-of-government’s first floor would consume roughly three‑quarters of that floor and reduce public‑facing space.

County Legislator Greg voiced concern about using prime downtown land for primarily surface parking or large, single‑use functions, calling that outcome “a poor use” of central city real estate. County Legislator Amanda countered that the Human Services Annex option under discussion offers parking that BOE needs for constituents: “I actually love this because there's parking,” she said.

County administration and the design team said their strong recommendation — supported administratively — is to move BOE out of the center of government and to either relocate it to the Human Services Annex or find leased space in the city. Staff said that, because a prior legislature resolution assumed BOE would locate in the center of government, the legislature will need to amend that resolution to proceed with schematic design on the current program.

Consultants said schematic design could begin as soon as the program is approved; they indicated they could start as early as the next Monday if the committee confirmed the department list. Staff also told the committee the county has reserved $9,000,000 in the capital budget for the center-of-government project and that relocation and lease costs will be refined and presented when a recommendation is made.

Discussion items included parking impacts, public access to first-floor services, the effect on downtown vitality and whether the Human Services Annex or other leased spaces are preferable for BOE. Directions included preparing an amended resolution for the legislature to confirm updated space allocations and continuing test fits and department‑level user group meetings. No final legislative vote on BOE’s location or on the capital authorization was recorded at this meeting.