Five-story office building planned at Bellingham’s public works yard
Bellingham City Council has approved a contract for a five-story all-electric administration building and a new equipment barn for the Public Works Department, both at the so-called “city yard” in the Roosevelt neighborhood.
A 27,210-square-foot administration building will include space for Public Works, Natural Resources and Parks Operations staff at 2221 Pacific St., on the corner with Carolina Street.
A barn on the southwest corner of the two-acre site will house trucks such as snowplows and lawn-maintenance equipment and also will have shop space.
Part of the administration building’s exterior will feature a topographic map of Bellingham Bay, Bellingham and Lake Whatcom, said Public works Director Eric Johnston.
“The first, main floor is a large open space that we’re calling a studio, if you will,” Johnston told a City Council committee Monday, April 26.
“It’s intended to be a large training facility but it will be equipped to be also set up with cameras and audio/visual equipment for remote meetings if we need it to. It could function, if needed, as a backup for a City Council meeting,” he said.
There will be a diesel generator in the event of a power failure, Johnston said.
In addition to office space, the new administration building will have locker rooms for field workers and a dining room.
It replaces a modular building that suffered flooding issues about 18 months ago and was found to contain black mold.
Employees were moved from the contaminated site to temporary space in the Federal Building, where the city has offices for transportation planning.
Lately, they’ve all been working from home because of the pandemic and many will continue to do so, Johnston said.
Moving Parks Operations staff to the site with Public Works “will allow us to gain some extra efficiencies in our day-to-day maintenance duties,” Johnston said.
Parks staff will continue to use its buildings, shop yard, materials storage and plant nursery at 1400 Woburn St. north of Lakeway Drive, said Steve Janiszewski, Parks Operations manager.
Existing buildings that are in good condition will remain in use and others will be demolished.
Construction cost is $20 million, paid for with real-estate excise taxes and a bond issue that the council will consider as a separate measure.
RMC Architects of Bellingham designed the building, which follows the city’s “electrification” policy under its Climate Action Plan and will include charging stations for the city’s growing fleet of electric vehicles.
Construction is scheduled to begin around June and take about two years.
