(Spirit Lake)– The Spirit Lake city council Tuesday reviewed the findings of a study by an engineering firm into the feasibility of upgrading the existing Police Department at its current location versus including it in a new city hall.
Gayle Mack of the S-E-H Engineering firm of the Twin Cities says the cost of doing that is estimated at $735,778. She says that would be some $500,000 less than including the Police Department in a new city hall. Adds and deducts for that portion of the project total about $178,000.
Under the proposal, the existing police station in the original brick building would remain and be rennovated, with the metal portion of the building facing Ithaca Avenue being removed. It would be replaced by a green space, with the main entrance to the rennovated facility facing Ithaca Avenue. An existing brick structure to the north, the former generating plant, would remain in place for evidence storage.
From here, city officials will put together final cost estimates for the overall project, including the cost of temporarily relocating offices. City Administrator Mark Stevens says he hopes to have those figures for the council at its next regular meeting. From there, he says the next step would be to schedule an election for a bond referendum.
The estimate for a new city hall on the existing site has been put at roughly 1.5 million dollars. With the Police Station combined with deducts and additions, the total project has an estimated cost slightly more than 2.4 million dollars.
