Kennewick staff outline $35.5 million City Hall replacement plan; council agrees to begin feasibility and site planning

City Manager Aaron Erdman told the Kennewick City Council on June 10 that staff will begin feasibility and design work for a proposed replacement of Kennewick’s City Hall, describing location options, project timing, IT infrastructure choices and preliminary budget modeling.

“The goal of today's presentation is to talk about the replacement of City Hall,” Erdman said, framing a staff recommendation to move from discussion to feasibility work. Staff presented three trackable questions for council input: (1) project budget and whether $35,500,000 is a reasonable starting point for design/feasibility, (2) timing, and (3) whether the civic campus should remain the likely location or the city should pursue an alternative site.

Location assessment: staff reviewed alternatives and weighed pros and cons for building at the current Civic Campus (municipal campus cohesion, existing infrastructure, ownership) versus alternative sites the city already owns (Frost Campus, Southridge Sports Complex, Entertainment District adjacent to the Convention Center) or purchasing new property. City staff noted advantages to staying on the Civic Campus — continuity of operations, available infrastructure and ownership — and disadvantages such as poor alignment with population growth and lower visibility to visitors and businesses. The Southridge and…