By Danny YadronThe Daily Northwestern
Aldermen discussed a local developer’s proposal for new offices to house the city government at a meeting of the Civic Center Committee on Monday night.
The report, presented by the firm Skidmore, Owings & Merrill, said any future city hall would require about 89,000 square feet of office space. It did not take a position on whether to remain in the existing Civic Center at 2100 Ridge Ave.
“In theory, this is completely neutral,” said Diane Schurecht, a representative for the group. “It’s just data that could be applied to any scenario.”
Skidmore, the firm responsible for downtown Chicago’s John Hancock Center, suggested the city centralize filing space to avoid redundancy. The city also could save space by reducing the 13 requested reception areas for each department to four centralized spaces, Schurecht said.
Centralized gathering areas, along with proposed self-service computer kiosks for the public, would create a focus on public interface, she said.
The City Council has not made a final decision on whether it is moving out of the existing Civic Center, although the council has overwhelmingly opposed staying in the current building in the past. The council voted in January 2006 that remodeling the Civic Center would cost more than constructing a new building. The current structure’s slate roof is already deteriorating and its utilities need to be upgraded.
But activists have argued that the city’s estimate of the cost of renovation is inflated. Last month, Friends of the Civic Center succeeded in getting an advisory referendum on today’s ballot asking residents whether the city government should remain in the existing building. The council responded by placing its own referendum on the ballot, which estimates it would cost $31 million to renovate the current building.
According to developer Schurecht, the “ideal” version of a city hall also would allocate space for functions not offered in the current building. These services would include a small workout room for city staff, a workspace for publishing in-house and a locker room with bike racks to promote alternative forms of transportation, Schurecht said.
The city now uses about 87 percent of available office space in the Civic Center, and city workers said they would appreciate the extra office space, Assistant Facilities Director David Cook said.
“Last summer, I had someone working in a chair because there was no room to work,” City Manager Julia Carroll said.
The next step would be to begin test fitting Skidmore’s plan on potential construction sites, including the current location.
The subject quickly turned the meeting into a forum on the persistent issue.
“We need to have a really serious meeting on other votes we’ve taken,” Ald. Ann Rainey (8th) said. “I don’t see how we can in good conscience design a plan for (2100 Ridge Ave.). To even think about that is asking for a tax increase next time around.”
But the latest cost estimates are at least a year old, Carroll said.
“I think we have to start getting some numbers crunched related to this,” she said. “You are not going to be able to make a rational (decision) unless you have the next set of data.”
Regardless, the city has yet to find an alternative site to the location on Ridge.
“We need to test fit (2100 Ridge Ave.) for our needs,” Ald. Lionel Jean-Baptiste (2nd) said, adding that the council would continue to explore alternative locations.
The council unanimously voted to allow test fitting the space study to the current Civic Center.
“If we keep backburning what we have to tackle in order to make an intelligent decision, we’re never going to get through this,” said Ald. Edmund Moran (6th).
Reach Danny Yadron at [email protected].
