Architect presents two options for La Cygne City Hall
- Roger Sims, Journal Staff
- 3 days ago
- 5 min read
Updated: 14 hours ago
By Roger Sims, Journal staff
LA CYGNE – Ever since the La Cygne Community Building essentially was closed for community use in 2024, the La Cygne City Council has had repurposing the building in mind.
Once the main gathering place for community events, use of the community building dwindled as the Great Room and Swan Room at the La Cygne Library and a room at Labette Bank took its place. Rental of the building wasn’t keeping up with its upkeep.
Over the past few months, city staff and some council members have worked on how to best put the space available to good use. After some internal discussion, city officials met with an architect with BG Consultants to put their ideas down on paper.
At the council’s meeting on Wednesday, Feb. 4, BG Consultants architect Clint Hibbs presented more detailed plans on how the space in both the community building and City Hall could be used.
Hibbs first pointed out that repairs were needed on both buildings, and while he said that the replacement cost of both buildings together was about $1.98 million, the needed repairs to the roof and other portions of both buildings combined would run more than $415,000 plus $16,600 in contingency and nearly $43,000 in design and construction administration costs.
He pointed out that while existing buildings are required to meet safety standards and standards associated with the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA), new and remodeled structures must conform to those standards. That would require reworking the restrooms to be ADA-compliant.
Hibbs noted that the two divisions – the clerk’s office and the police department – that now occupy City Hall have grown. That growth was reflected in the two contrasting plans he presented to the council.
The first was a plan using both buildings for city offices. The existing floor plan for City Hall encompasses about 3,000 square feet, and the community building is a little over 4,800 square feet for a combined area of nearly 7,900 square feet.
With his design plan, both buildings would be connected by short hallway for easy access without having to go outside. The current city hall would continue to have offices for the city clerk, the treasurer, the public works supervisor as well as a lobby and service counter. A conference room in the back of the building and a couple of rooms for record storage would complete the floor plan along with a mechanical room and restroom.
The former community building would essentially be cut in two, with the west portion dedicated to the police department and the east portion a multipurpose room for city council meetings that could accommodate 110 people. The multipurpose area would have three restrooms including one for families.
The police department portion and the multipurpose room would have a wall between them but each area could be accessed through a corridor. Two individual offices, an office area for multiple workers, and an interview room are included in that section. It would also include a secure evidence room, an armory, a secure “sally port” for driving suspects into the building or for preparing to transfer them to the county jail, and a holding area.
Also included in the plan would be a shelter room, which he called a “hardened room with added reinforcement. He said it wouldn’t meet Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) standards, but it would be able to withstand a tornado. It would not, however, be large enough to be a community shelter.
The exterior would have two main entrances for the public off of North Broadway: into the lobby of the offices and into the multipurpose room. Between the south wall of community building and its neighbor, with the “La Cygne Guest Suites” awning over the doorway, there would be a south entrance into the multipurpose room and one into the police department.
The price tag for the expansion wouldn’t be cheap. He estimated the cost – including an exterior enhancement and a 4% contingency reserve – would be nearly $1.59 million, plus more than $162,000 for design and engineering and construction management.
Grand total estimate was more than $1.76 million. However, that cost included the $432,000 to fix existing problems with both buildings.
He compared that to the cost to build a new, 7,900 square foot municipal building at nearly $3.64 million.
The second option was to renovate only the 4,830 square foot community building into city offices. Although it was obviously less expensive, the anticipated cost would be almost $1.12 million, including $1 million in hard construction costs and $102,000 in design, construction and testing costs.
All of the components were stripped down. The multipurpose room was designed to hold 48 people for meetings, there were fewer restrooms, the sally port was traded off for a covered parking area.
Option 2 also had a single entrance on the south that opened into a vestibule where the police department and city offices could be accessed. The two doorways to the multipurpose room remained.
Hibbs estimated the cost to build a new 4,830 structure at about $2.2 million. If the council went for the second option, the city could keep the current offices for storage and for possible expansion in the future.
He also said that the renovations could be done in stages. He also note that the prices quoted included a 4% increase in costs between now and when construction would start in 2027.
City Clerk Jodi Wade said that she was comfortable with either layout. She noted that the currently the restrooms don’t work well, particularly when there are large events. Wade also predicted that prices would only go up, however, she was confident that grants and loans could be secured to do the work.
She also noted that it was currently very expensive to heat the community building.
Dan Nasalroad, public works head, said he liked Option 1 because the multipurpose area had more room for people to comfortably attend important events.
Councilmember Oscar Marino said he liked both designs because the police department was separated from city offices.
Police Chief Zachary Mathies said that each design had an advantage and that the city needed to be a good steward of taxpayers’ money.
Councilmember Kent Wade asked how much clearance was on the west side of the buildings before infringing on the property owned by BNSF railroad. He said that could come into play if a sally port was built.
Hibbs admitted that a survey had not yet been done.
“If we did Option 1, will it be like a new building that will last 60 years,” Kent Wade asked.
“Yes. It will be like a new building. It restarts the life of the building,” Hibbs responded.
To answer questions by Councilmembers Robert Sullivan and Jerome Mitzner, Hibbs said that the renovations would include a backup generator. He also said that conduit would be run for an alarm system, but the alarm system would need to be purchase separately.
Hibbs said once the council decided to proceed, it would take four months to design the project and between six and eight month for construction to be completed.