Mercer Island council briefed on schematic design and $103.9 million estimate for new public safety and maintenance facility

Summary

Council heard a schematic-design update Tuesday showing a two-building complex, covered equipment yards, secured police deployment area and a preliminary project budget of about $103.9 million; staff and architects said the facility is sized to keep emergency operations and critical city services working during disasters.

Mercer Island — The City Council received a detailed schematic-design briefing June 3 on plans for a consolidated public safety and maintenance (PSM) complex and a preliminary project budget the city estimated at about $103.9 million.

The schematic places two primary buildings on the eastern portion of the former City Hall site: a Public Safety & Maintenance Building with public-facing customer service counters, police operations and an emergency operations center (EOC), and an Operations Building with high-bay vehicle and equipment storage, maintenance bays and a materials warehouse. The design groups covered vehicle and equipment storage and creates one-way circulation to reduce vehicle conflicts in the yard.

City Manager Jesse Vaughn and lead architect Aaron Young of Northwest Studio told the council the design is intended to make critical services resilient. Vaughn said the new complex will be a Risk Category 4 structure "designed to remain in operation during events," an attribute the city made a priority for housing police, public works, IT/GIS and the emergency operations function together.

Why it matters: staff and the design team said the current Public Works building and temporary police trailers provide inadequate shelter for personnel and expensive equipment,…

Mercer Island council briefed on schematic design and $103.9 million estimate for new public safety and maintenance facility

Summary

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