Cross Plains reviews village hall and police facility designs; narrows options and schedules public input

Architects and village staff presented a site plan, three exterior design concepts and preliminary cost and financing estimates for a proposed Village of Cross Plains village hall and police facility during the board meeting on Jan. 13.

The presentation, led by Matt Bickel of Wold, reviewed site constraints and amenities, a roughly 17,275-square-foot building footprint, space for up to about 64 parking stalls, a trailhead shelter with public toilets and a roof area sized to accommodate future solar panels. “We’re looking at a building construction cost of about just over $6,000,000,” Bickel said, and the consultant team later provided a broader estimate that put total project costs at about $7.7 million, including sitework, contingency and soft costs.

The board heard three exterior concepts that use varying mixes of stone, brick and metal paneling. Concept A emphasizes natural stone with brick accents; B increases metal paneling as an accent; C applies more metal on the community-room massing and uses a darker brick alternative. Trustees and planning-group members favored narrowing the public presentation to two exterior options (A and C) and a reduced set of interior options to simplify community feedback.

Why it matters: the existing village hall has accessibility, security and flooding problems noted in earlier studies; the new facility would consolidate village…