Public Safety & City Services Campus

The current design is for a two-story, 35,000 square-foot building to house all City staff and the Police Department, as well as a separate mechanic shop and vehicle storage building. The current estimate is about $45M to fully construct, though staff have identified a few options to phase some of the work if needed. Those details and the revised cost estimate are linked under the Related Documents section found below. 

The Fire District purchased parcels on Pine Avenue for $6.35M. The City purchased 57% of the property from the Fire District, with $3.6M paid in full out of the City’s reserves. The City and Fire District are sharing costs for required infrastructure improvements, and the City is also completing other utility system improvements while the road and right-of-way are opened up. The Fire District broke ground in 2025 and expects to complete construction of their building in late-2026.

Project Need

The City currently has staff and equipment scattered across a half dozen locations, some in facilities that are over a century old. The need to consolidate the number of buildings and build a new city hall was identified more than 20 years ago, and there have been stops and starts along the way to make that happen.

The City has staff located at City Hall (116 Union Avenue), the Engineering Building (112 Union Avenue), the Public Works Shop (1801 First Street), and the Wastewater Treatment Plant (2125 Second Street). The Snohomish Police Department is located in an old bank building on Maple Avenue that was purchased and renovated in the mid-1990s. The City also reserves the lower level of the Carnegie Building exclusively for City Council, board, and commission meetings because there is no space at other City-owned facilities.

Significant investments have been made into these current facilities as part of regular maintenance or mandatory safety upgrades. However, multiple planning documents and community advisory groups over the last 20 years have highlighted the need for new City facilities, noting that the current buildings are functionally obsolete and strained beyond their initial remodel and design limits. 

A facilities condition assessment was completed in 2023 at the request of City Council. That review concluded that upgrading deficiencies and ongoing maintenance of the City's existing facilities where staff are located would cost more than $10M over the next 5-10 years alone. This doesn't account for the fact that the current Public Works Shop site is in a liquefaction zone, presenting significant concerns about the loss of critical equipment worth millions and being unable to respond in a major earthquake or natural disaster. Moving these facilities to another location is estimated to be at least $26M, not including the purchase of land, design, and permitting costs. 

The costs to upgrade facilities to meet current needs were quickly approaching the cost to build new facilities that would better meet future operational needs. This is why the City began looking for property to move their facilities into one area, making it easier for the community to access services. Partnering with Snohomish Fire District #4 allows for two projects to be combined to better serve our community. 

Current Design Status

While staff have been working with the Lawhead team to reduce costs, the state and federal economic landscape has shifted dramatically. This has resulted in grant dollars and future funding opportunities being diminished, volatility in the bond market, increasing concerns about a recession, and general uncertainty in what is ahead. Given this, staff have determined that it is prudent to significantly slow down planning efforts on the Campus. 

The City will complete remaining schematic design tasks, continue with construction of the infrastructure package, eventually move to final design of the buildings. The goal is to get the Campus to a "shovel ready" project, while continuing to seek additional funding. Staff will work with Council to reassess project readiness if/when the economy stabilizes with more predictability in long-range outlooks.