Lakewood officials review city hall space study; police locker rooms and evidence storage flagged as urgent

Lakewood Mayor Mary George and city staff presented a consultant space assessment on Feb. 3 that found the existing City Hall cannot be adapted to meet current operational, accessibility and growth needs without major cost and disruption.

The consultant report, delivered by Weber Murphy Fox, identified immediate capacity and compliance shortfalls in the police facility — notably women’s locker‑room space and evidence storage — and estimated renovation and addition costs. “The space assessment … shows that even with substantial investments into the millions of dollars, it still doesn't solve many, many problems,” Mayor Mary George said during the Committee of the Whole presentation.

Why it matters: The study frames near‑term personnel and legal‑compliance needs (including ADA accessibility) against long‑term planning for a municipal campus that city leaders say must support modern services and be fiscally responsible.

What the study found and what staff emphasized

Director Byington, who led the city’s procurement of the space assessment, described the consultant work: department interviews, employee surveys and Matterport scans were used to produce conceptual floor plans and cost estimates. Byington listed deficiencies including limited office/desk/storage space, elevator and window replacements, customer‑service fragmentation…