City Hall likely to stay at current location

Whitefish City Hall is likely staying put in its current location.

The committee charged with recommending a site decided last week that it would like City Hall to stay at its current spot on Baker Avenue and Second Street. City Council is expected to vote on the recommendation in September.

The committee has spent several months examining potential sites and in June narrowed its choices to two — the current location and a lot on Baker Avenue across from the post office.

A few committee members said they favored the current location because the city already owns the property. The post office site is currently an office building and would have to be purchased.

“I’m in favor of sticking with what we own,” committee member Toby Scott said.

Before making a decision Thursday the committee took input from Crandall Arambula, the firm that is updating the city’s downtown master plan.

George Crandall said public investment, such as a City Hall, should re-enforce the idea of a town center with much of it concentrated in an 1/8 mile radius.

“Outside a quarter mile doesn’t stimulate the retail area,” he said. “City Hall brings people every day who get out of their car. People who use restaurants and businesses.”

The current site is within the 1/8-mile area and the post office site is within a 1/4-mile of the city center.

Arambula said his initial impression of the post office site is that it’s too far from the town center.

“The Baker Avenue site doesn’t make a connection with Central Avenue,” he said. “You want to be able to connect with Central easily. You don’t want City Hall to be a stand alone, otherwise you’ll have a disconnect. Some say it’s close enough, but it’s not. “

Discussions on a location for City Hall came in tandem with creating more parking, a perceived need for the downtown area.

The new building is estimated to need 18,000 square feet to house city offices. The city owns the former Coldwell Bank building to the north which would allow for it to expand on the site. The site would need to accommodate employee and city vehicle parking.

Some suggested that locating City Hall on Baker next to a park could provide additional parking for events and those headed to Central Avenue.

Crandall, however, said that visitors would be unlikely to use a garage so far from the center of town.

“Parking that’s not close to the shopping — no one will use them,” he said. “You have to be able to park easily.”

“Even if you put parking with City Hall it will not solve the demand problem for parking,” Crandall cautioned. “You will have to look at another spot for a parking garage.”

One idea for City Hall is to combine retail spaces and a parking structure with the building. A lobby for the city could potentially be on the first floor with city offices located on upper levels.

City Manager Chuck Stearns said he feels City Hall needs a first floor presence and asked for the consultant’s input.

“You don’t want to compromise City Hall,” Crandall said. “It needs a certain presence and grandeur.”