Larkspur hires consultant on City Hall renovations

The Larkspur City Council has approved a contract of up to $232,000 for a consulting firm to evaluate renovating City Hall.

The council approved an architectural and engineering agreement with the firm, Page and Turnbull, at its meeting on May 1. The vote also included an amendment to the capital improvement program to add the cost in this year’s budget rather than next year’s.

“We’re ready to get going,” said Julian Skinner, the city’s public works director.

The historic building at 400 Magnolia Ave. is home to the city’s library and administrative offices. It was built approximately 110 years ago.

The consultant will produce a report on building and cost estimates for various renovation options, Skinner said.

“They have a lot of historical expertise on staff,” Skinner said. “They have an extensive catalog of these historical structure reports.”

Skinner said he would bring the project plan to the Heritage Preservation Board. A public workshop also is planned during the evaluation, which is estimated to take between six and eight months.

The project cost has been a sticking point for over a year. City Hall needs a full interior renovation, including costly upgrades such as a new elevator, seismic upgrades and new sprinklers. Estimates for the renovation have ranged between $15 million and $18 million.

“It’s a big number, Julian, and I’m struggling with it,” said Mayor Scot Candell, referring to the consulting cost.

Candell proposed the city explore a bond measure or gauge public interest in a funding proposal for the renovation before they moved forward with a costly evaluation of the property. He questioned where the funds would come from for the renovation project, but was moved to support the resolution for the building review.

City Manager Dan Schwarz said the cost for the review would likely come out of the city’s general fund reserve, which has a capital projects fund with about $2 million in unallocated funds. About $4 million to $5 million in the capital projects portion of the general fund reserve is designated to the city’s library building project.

“This building needs to be better understood if you’re going to make an informed decision,” Schwarz said regarding City Hall.

The city is forging ahead with its new library building, which currently carries a price tag of about $16 million. The building will be at the Commons, a city-owned parcel at the corner of Rose Lane and Doherty Drive.

The city has previously discussed several options for the funding of a full-scale renovation of City Hall. They include offering the space to another entity or government agency with the cash flow to cover renovation costs, such as with a lease that covers renovation but charges no rent.

Potential costs for a renovation are high because of requirements for the city to operate the building as a public facility. A renovation for a different type of use may not require the same treatment and could be significantly less expensive.