Steele Associates will design City Hall

Sisters took a big step towards building a long-awaited new City Hall when the Sisters City Council voted unanimously this month to select a local architectural firm to design the building.

The council approved a contract in the amount of $60,000 with Steele Associates Architects, the firm that designed Sisters High School and donated the design for Barclay Park.

The city selected Steele Associates after reviewing 16 proposals, with costs ranging from $56,000 to $178,000, said Scott Steele, project principal. The council interviewed three firms and chose Steele Associates because of its low cost; project experience; and familiarity with Central Oregon, the western architectural theme and the Sisters Development Code, said Eileen Stein, city manager.

"All the firms were equally qualified and the prices were so wide in variety," Stein said. "Many of the firms outside of Central Oregon had costs that included mileage and lodging and we felt the quality of the local firms were just as good as them. Also since they have managed such large projects like the high school, this will be a small project in comparison."

The new City Hall is estimated to be about 5,000 to 8,000 square feet and will be located on the northeast corner of the former middle school site on Locust Street. It will be located next to the proposed new library and the former middle school administration building.

The current City Hall is about half that size at 2,800 square feet and was built when the city incorporated in 1939. At that time, the building housed the fire hall, the police station and the City Hall, Stein said.

"It is outdated, crowded and won't work for growth," Stein said. "You walk in and you're in the council chambers. We need more separation of space of the public and the private. There needs to be more privacy for the staff. That will be a challenge to create privacy and still have the feeling of open access to the staff for the public."

The design process will take place over the next six months and include three public meetings. Stein said the meetings will allow the public to give input and sketch their ideas for the exterior design of the building.

Steele said the entryway to the City Hall will probably be close to the library but will not be joined with it because of fire code and because the businesses will be on different schedules.

No decisions have been made on the material of the building, but Stein said she hopes the city will recycle the bricks left after the demolition of the site's existing middle school classroom building.

Stein said she hopes funding for the project will come from the sale of the Multnomah Publishers general office building on 204 West Adams Ave. The city put the building on the market in October for $855,000.