Civic centerpiece

A new Whitefish City Hall continues to take shape downtown and in about six months the municipal building is set to once again stand as the center of Whitefish.

The design of a red brick building with curved archways reminiscent of the historic City Hall, along with large windows and awnings over the sidewalks, is no longer just an architect’s vision. The attached parking structure to the north is getting closer to the days when drivers can enter and find a parking spot.

The new municipal building is on track to be completed next year in early April. City staff is expected to occupy the building the following month.

Mayor John Muhlfeld praised the project, saying he is anxious to see it complete.

“I’m very pleased with construction progress, and thank the public for their patience with intermittent traffic delays and congestion,” Muhlfeld said. “The project is on track to be completed [for move in] by May and I look forward to all of the public benefits this project will provide our community, including a more efficient delivery of governmental services to our taxpayers, and of course the added 211 parking spaces that will support our locally owned and operated downtown businesses.”

Construction of the new building began last fall. The new City Hall will be 24,000 square feet in two stories and includes a half floor basement. The parking structure will be 84,000 square feet on three stories with about 200 parking spaces. On the northwest corner of the parking structure is 3,000 square feet of retail space the city plans to lease out.

In early summer structural steel erection was ongoing for City Hall and concrete work continued then as it does now for the attached parking structure.

Wrapping the steel structure of the building, brick work began with the east side of City Hall and is soon expected to begin moving around the remaining exterior with completion expected in December. In roughly a month the large openings in the facade should be filled with store front windows. Now that the roof is on City Hall much of the work will move inside to begin forming the current shell spaces into offices and conference rooms.

Two more major concrete pours remain before the end of the year for the attached parking structure.

On a recent tour of the construction project, crews were busy working on both inside and outside the City Hall building and parking structure. About 60 crew members are on the job site currently.

Mike Cronquist, the city’s project manager, said the entire project is about 65 percent complete.

“It’s beginning to take form and shape now,” Cronquist said. “Each day it’s more visual and beginning to look like City Hall.”

Architect Ben Tintinger with Mosaic Architect said passersby will begin to see even more happening at the site.

“We’re at the stage now where we will start seeing the finishes going on the building,” Ben said. “The roof is on and now the work will move to the interior finishes.”

Even on a gray, rainy day standing near what will become the entrance to City Hall, it’s easy to see how natural light will flow into the lobby through the space left open for large windows facing Second Street and Baker Avenue. A curved mark on the floor delineates the spot for a long welcome counter for those entering to conduct business.

“There’s a lot of glass,” Cronquist said. “It’s very open. It will be a really nice facility when it’s completed.”

On the first floor along the north and east edges of the building offices, conference rooms and work spaces line the perimeter of the building.

The open lobby rises up to the second floor. At the center an elevator and wrapped staircase will soon be ready to take visitors to offices and City Council chambers on the second floor.

It was roughly a year ago in the dark of night that the 97-year-old Whitefish City Hall building finally came down. For about two months the main building and attached buildings were disassembled. Folks looking to hold onto a piece of history claimed bricks from the original structure. Others bid on items to be salvaged from the exterior and interior — among the quirky items were seven sets of jail bars from the 1918 jail.

The construction process for the project last fall had a rocky start. Plagued by unsuitable soil conditions, contaminated soil and rising prices for materials and labor, the budget for the project quickly ballooned. While the City Hall portion of the project remained on-budget, the parking structure drove increases. In January, City Council was forced to increase the project budget from $14.95 million to $16 million.

Muhlfeld said that remaining on budget is a priority for the city.

“The City Council continues to hold a pretty firm line when it comes to unforeseen budget overruns and expenditures,” he said. “We have authorized just a few minor change orders, which is fairly exceptional given the scale of this project.”

Cronquist noted that steady progress has been ongoing since the construction work moved above ground and has gone smoothly since.

“Once we got out of the mud and go to where we could pour concrete things picked up,” he said. “I’m pleased with the way it’s progressing. We’ve had no major issues since then.”

Much of the exterior has been decided for months, but the City Hall advisory committee just a few weeks ago was finalizing carpet choices and interior paint colors. They also turned their focus to some finer aesthetic points.

They gave the go-ahead to Stumptown Art Studio to refine its concept for a public art piece that will grace a column just east of the main entry to the building. The committee committed up to $10,000 to the project. A section — about 16 inches by 10 feet — of one column has been set aside as a spot to standout from the rest of the red brick building.

“We floated the idea of a piece of artwork,” Tintinger said. “It’s really an opportunity to bring artwork into the building.”

Stumptown Art Studio director Melanie Drown and artist Charity Flowers presented their ideas to the committee. They propose installing a mixed-media piece likely constructed of stoneware and tiles that could bring a sense of history and natural beauty to the building. One conceptual drawing shows whitefish swimming up the column, while another weaves the history of town through multiple scenes.

“We want to include the things that we all enjoy every day that are special about Whitefish,” Flowers told the committee.

Philanthropist John Kramer is spearheading a committee that expects to privately fundraise between $20,000 and $30,000 to ensure historic photographs and artwork decorate the hallways and conference rooms of the new building. The committee gave Kramer the OK to move forward.

“I’m pleased with the city’s investment in this community with this building,” he said. “We want to come up with a plan for the photographs and art that will hang in the building.”

Planning for the replacement of the nearly century-old City Hall building has been a long time coming. The evolution of the new City Hall began in 1987 as part of the city’s urban renewal plan, and the city began setting aside tax-increments funds for the project in 2003.

City Council in 2007 voted to retain ownership of the current City Hall property and in 2011, residents chose the current location as their top pick for the civic building.

To pay for the project, the city is using the tax-increment finance fund, which allows for the reserve of increases in property taxes collections within a district to be diverted to infrastructure improvements and civic projects within the district. In addition, the city created a downtown special improvement district that creates an assessment on businesses to pay for maintenance of the parking structure.