|
City Hall is beyond capacity. Since 2005, City Hall was renovated to make room for as many staff as possible. Office space was also leased in two downtown office buildings to accommodate two departments and a number of staff from various areas. Additional leased spaced is required in 2007 to address space constraints.
The City is planning on expanding City Hall to address the immediate and long-term growth issues, while continuing to meet the demands of an evolving community. The goal is to develop space to accommodate approximately 10 years of staff growth, with the ability to expand and provide for an additional 10 years of growth.
During The City’s capital budget process on December 11, 2007, City Council agreed the  funding requirement for the City Hall Expansion project would remain in the 2007 capital budget and 2008-2011 capital forecast. A cost estimate was established in the 2007 capital budget as a placeholder value for design work on the project.
Following this Council decision, The City selected Group2 Architecture Engineering Ltd. from Red Deer as prime consultant on the City Hall Expansion project. Group2 emerged as the successful candidate from four firms that were short-listed to submit detailed proposals and visual concepts. The other consultants included Stantec Consulting Ltd., IBI Group Architects Engineers and Manasc Isaac Architects Ltd. The selection was made based on a thoughtful analysis that included feedback provided by City Council, City staff and Red Deer Public Library staff.
Group2 will begin concept design in early 2007. Since the City Hall Expansion project is guided by The City’s Major Facilities Planning and Construction Template and process, City Council is required to review the project at various stages. As a result, once the concept design stage is complete, Council will decide whether to advance the project to detail design. If it proceeds to detail design, they will make a ‘go’ / ‘no go’ decision at the end of design work and tendering to determine if the project should move to construction and completion.
This City Hall Expansion project supports The City’s efforts to lead in downtown revitalization. As the project evolves, City staff and citizens will be invited to provide input to help develop a facility that will serve the community well into the future and become a welcoming, engaging landmark everyone can be proud of.
If you have comments or questions about the City Hall Expansion project, please send them to: feedback@reddeer.ca.
| 
