MARYSVILLE – For Marysville city government, the days of unpacking moving boxes from one used building to the next and knocking out walls in the Public Safety Center for more space are about to end.
City Hall and its many departments are moving in together, back where they started in the heart of downtown.
The City Council Monday awarded a $47.6 million contract to Bellevue-based Lydig Construction, Inc. to build a state-of-the-art, consolidated civic campus housing police, jail, municipal court, City Council chambers, City Hall, community development and public works engineering offices.
The civic center will be located on six acres along Delta Avenue between 5th and 8th streets, west of Comeford Park. Plans call for an 80,369-square-foot building that will include a four-story City Hall, as well as police space and courts connected by a sally port to an adjacent 20,848-square-foot jail.
Work could begin as early as next month.
Construction is anticipated to last about two years and cost $50 million. The city received five bids ranging from $43.5 million to $56.5 million.
Mayor Jon Nehring said he is excited to move forward with the project that has been discussed at the city for decades.
“The civic campus will offer residents and visitors a one-stop shop for city customer service functions and an attractive new public space in Marysville’s redeveloping downtown core,” Nehring said.
Marysville voters backed a criminal justice tax in 2018 that increased the city sales tax by 0.1%, which is helping fund the public safety segment of the project. Last year, the city approved a $32 million bond issue to also help pay for the project.
Additional funds will come through the sale of existing city buildings after city staff move – one more time – into the new center.
Architects Botesch, Nash & Hall of Everett designed the project.
The jail, which would house 110 inmates in 50 cells, would be between Sixth and Seventh streets with parking from Seventh to Eighth streets. More parking would be available to the west of all the buildings next to the BNSF Railway tracks, including from Fourth to Fifth.
Delta Avenue will be turned into a “woonerf,” a Dutch word that means “living street.” It would be for low-speed vehicles, pedestrians and other community activities.
Inside the buildings the themes will center around wood, natural light and earth tones.
Other Lydig projects include the City of Sequim Civic Center and Police Station, Colville Tribal Government Center and Skagit County Community Justice Center and South Correctional Entity (SCORE) Jail in Des Moines.
For more information, go to www.marysvillewa.gov/973/Civic-Campus.
