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Council approves feasibility study to evaluate Federal Building as new City Hall
Summary
Council authorized a phase-1 feasibility contract with VCBO Architecture to study renovating the Federal Building as a potential downtown City Hall; members debated parking, ADA, tax-roll impacts and whether a broader options study was needed.
The Pocatello City Council approved a professional services agreement with VCBO Architecture for a phase-1 feasibility analysis to evaluate renovating the Federal Building for a relocated City Hall.
Planning and Development Director Brent McClain outlined the study scope, saying it would evaluate building condition, ADA and accessibility needs, seismic and site issues, parking requirements, department programming needs, public outreach and preliminary cost estimates. "This is a feasibility study to see if the Federal Building would work to be the location of a new city hall," McClain said. He estimated the study would take about six months.
McClain and council members discussed parking and accessibility concerns several times. McClain said the Federal Building includes 50—60 parking stalls but acknowledged that additional nearby parking or leases likely would be necessary. He described the building as "built extremely well" and said it has courtroom spaces and interior volumes that could be adapted for civic use.
Some council members urged a broader, comparative study of all viable options for addressing city-hall space and police facility needs rather than a study narrowly focused on one building. Councilmember Paulson said he wanted a study that considered all options and noted the high long-term costs of major facility projects. Other council members defended the targeted approach as the next step in a long-running downtown plan and emphasized that phase 2 and any purchase decisions would require separate council approval.
The council voted to move forward with the VCBO agreement for phase 1. The contract authorizes staff to complete the feasibility analysis; moving to a phase-2 design and construction agreement would require a subsequent council vote.
Council directed staff to ensure the feasibility study addresses ADA and parking considerations, includes robust public outreach, and identifies alternative scenarios and estimated costs so the council can compare options before any acquisition or construction decisions.
