Cedar Rapids city options detailed: Build new or use existing

Get set for a detailed array of informational poster boards if you plan to attend one of the open houses on city facilities today or Wednesday.

In simplest terms, city consultant OPN Architects Inc. has come up with two general options for housing city offices in the wake of the June 2008 flood: One uses existing buildings and one calls for a new building.

In a preview of the open-house poster boards provided by the city late Monday afternoon, some conclusions seem to be these:

• It will cost an estimated $38 million to build a new City Hall, called a City Services Center, while the cost in August was in the $50 million range for a larger building.

• To use existing buildings - including the Veterans Memorial Building on May's Island, the vacant federal courthouse and existing suburban or downtown office buildings - the initial construction cost will be about $14 million. In August, the thought was that some of these costs would be paid from Federal Emergency Management Agency disaster assistance.

• OPN concludes that taxpayers will save money over time, through efficiencies and insurance costs, if a new structure is built. The costs were about even in August.

One “build-new” option provides cost estimates for a new building where the city and Linn County could co-locate. The construction cost would be $32 million to the city and $16.7 million to Linn County - less to the city than if it builds alone.

Both the build-new and use-existing options look to the future. Options are premised on giving city government the room and configurations that its departments say they need and will need for years into the future.

The City Council has publicly discussed few of the assumptions or analyses that have gone into the OPN conclusions.

Mayor-elect Ron Corbett has said he is opposed to building a new City Hall, and both he and council member Monica Vernon have dismissed cost projections over 25 or more years as unreliable.

As for the prospects of building a new structure with Linn County, the Linn County Board of Supervisors on Monday announced the results of its own survey of resident input as it decides whether to return to its flood-damaged Administrative Office Building. Residents ranked co-location with the city fifth of five options.

The city's open houses - the third in a series - will be held in the Ballroom at the Crowne Plaza Five Seasons Hotel from 4 to 7 p.m. today and from 11:30 a.m. to 1:30 p.m. Wednesday.

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