Lincoln City has a crumbling city hall problem. So can it be fixed and how much will it cost?

By ANGELA NEBEL/Lincoln Chronicle

LINCOLN CITY — Beset with a laundry list of structural problems and rising operating costs, growing concerns surrounding Lincoln City’s city hall have officials considering a variety of options described as both costly and necessary.

City manager Daniel Hunter and his staff will explain the 42-year-old building’s challenges at two town hall meetings in the coming weeks. Attendees will also be presented with possible solutions and the anticipated price tag for each.

According to the city manager, all options will likely require voter support for a bond issue in November.

Town hall meetings will be at 5 p.m. Tuesday, June 23, and noon Thursday, July 2, at the Lincoln City Community Center, 2150 N.E. Oar Place.

Discussion of the four-story building’s problems began several years ago, but became even more visible to the public in March, when the parking area on the ground level of the building was closed.

“We have fire suppression in the under-building parking and the anchors that secured those to the ceiling were corroded,” Hunter said.

When one of the lines fell in the middle of the night, the fire suppression system had to be turned off.

“We determined that multiple anchor points are rusted out and we had to close the parking lot,” he added. That resulted in the loss of 30 spaces.

In addition to the problems happening on the ground level, water inundation is a recurring challenge throughout the structure, according to Hunter.

“When I became pro-tem in October, I was given a tour of the building and shown the concerning points,” he said. “That was largely the siding and the steel-frame windows, which are rusting out. There is water inundation anywhere there is a window, including my office. That means water is getting into interior walls and the windows in the staircase have significant holes and are rusting out.”

There are more concerns, including an aging heating and ventilation system, and worries about fire suppression in the room that houses the city’s computer servers.

Also located on the Lincoln Square site is McKay’s Market, a building that is owned by the city. The grocery has parking on top of the building, which is used primarily by the 38 people who work at city hall and the Driftwood Public Library. That also needs repairs to stop water from leaking into the store.

As these maintenance needs continue to swell, city councilors are also looking at the cost of operating the city hall building. Hunter explained that even without addressing the deferred maintenance, operating costs are expected to top $1 million next year.

All options are under consideration, including major renovation, demolition and reconstruction on the same site, or moving to a different location. People who attend the two meeting will hear various scenarios for the city hall and library, along with some rough cost estimates.

Early projections placed the project at $14 million, but Hunter said they are still evaluating costs and he suspects the revised figures will be higher.

“We don’t have the funding currently to do anything,” he said. “We will apply for a grant for redevelopment of city facilities, but that would be a sliver of the actual overall cost.”

That is where a vote on a bond comes into the picture.

“It doesn’t matter what we do, we don’t have the money to do any of it, Hunter said. “Getting a bond on the ballot that is sufficient to pay for one of these options is the final piece.”

In addition to explaining the building’s challenges and potential solutions, Hunter said the town hall meetings will also be an opportunity to gauge the community’s support for a tax increase to fund the improvements..

•  Angela Nebel is a Newport freelancer writer and Lincoln Chronicle contributor who can be reached at [email protected]