Cost of new City Hall higher by half

By JOHN STANG

The Daily Inter Lake

The cost of overhauling the old Wells Fargo building for a new Kalispell City Hall has increased by roughly 50 percent - maybe more.

The original cost estimate: $800,000.

The new cost estimate: $1.2 million to $1.3 million.

The Kalispell city government has not identified a source for the extra $400,000 to $500,000, except for borrowing.

Architect Chad Grover of Whitefish and City Manager Jim Patrick briefed the City Council on Monday about the situation.

The cost increase comes from complications in remodeling the bank's interior into a new City Hall, they said.

The bank's first-floor cubicles are too small for City Hall use, and expanding them led to complications with the walls. Also, the building's heating and cooling systems did not meet city-code standards, and have to be upgraded, Grover said. Also, much of the building is not accessible to handicapped people.

"It just became one big ripple effect," Grover said.

Kalispell's government hopes to put roughly half of its 179 employees in the Wells Fargo building, 201 First Ave. E. The city bought the building from Wells Fargo several months ago for $1.2 million.

The overall shifting plan is to:

. Move the Planning, Parks and Community Development departments out of their leased offices scattered across downtown Kalispell. That would eliminate lease payments on three sites.

. Have the Parks Department move into the Public Works headquarters on the north side of the current City Hall. The Community Development Department is supposed to move to the first floor of the Wells Fargo building. The Planning and Public works departments are supposed to move into the basement of the Wells Fargo building.

. Have the administrative departments, the City Manager's Office, the Mayor's Office and City Council chambers move from City Hall to the first floor of the Wells Fargo building.

. The police and fire departments would expand from their half of the current City Hall to fill the whole building.

The city has three choices in dealing with the extra costs: increase the remodeling budget, leave the building as it is and only move as many departments into it that will fit, or phase-in the remodeling and moves across two or more years.

Patrick recommended that the city remodel the basement and as much of the first floor as possible for $800,000 - and tackle the rest later.

This briefing came during a workshop session, in which the council is not allowed legally to make formal decisions. However, several council members indicated agreement with Patrick's recommendation.

"Lets do $800,000 and go as far as we can with it," said council member Hank Olson.

Originally, the city government planned to move into the Wells Fargo building in September. Now, a partial move likely would occur at least three months later, Patrick said.