POULSBO — The golden shovels and hard hats are on reserve for Sept. 9, when Poulsbo city staff and council will gather for a groundbreaking on the new city hall site at Moe Street and Third Avenue.
The ceremony is one of a few project markers being met in the next few weeks.
Project manager Gary Tusberg, director of urban development for the Kitsap County Consolidated Housing Authority, said the design development for the building is now complete.
“That is a milestone,” he said.
But one milestone not met is a cost estimation for the project; one has been prepared but requires a format revision, and will be available next week, he explained. Some council members have been critical of the lagging estimation. Possible price tags have ranged from $12.4 million to the most recent$16.9 million.
When asked by an audience member when taxpayers would have a definitive price tag, Tusberg responded one would be prepared after final construction bids are received at the end of the year.
Until then, a demolition and site preparation process will get under way, beginning with Tuesday’s event.
State Rep. Sherry Appleton (D-Poulsbo) and North End County Commissioner Steve Bauer are on the list to attend; community members are invited to the celebration.
Passports, parking tickets and utility payments will be put on hold from 3-3:30 p.m., as city offices will be closed.
“We’ve reached points close to this on things over the years,” said Poulsbo Mayor Kathryn Quade, “and this is the closest we’ve ever come.”
She said the structure will serve a leadership position in the city’s core.
Tusberg added the project has been given favorable reviews countywide; the county itself will have a stake in a portion of the structure through the district courts, which function with the city’s municipal courts. The two make up about 10 percent of the building.
Construction on the actual building is planned to start in the first quarter of 2009.
On a related note, Council Member Ed Stern said an ad hoc committee formed to evaluate the possible uses of the current city hall site will continue to expand its contacts with members of the private sector to find “the highest and best use” for the acreage once its sold by the city.
