JAMES CITY COUNTY — James City County (JCC) is progressing in the design and function of its proposed new Government Center.
During the JCC Board of Supervisors (BOS) business meeting Tuesday, Sept. 24, JCC Assistant County Administrator Brad Rinehimer and Brad Sipes of GuernseyTingle presented an update on the proposed building designs and layout.
The future consolidated JCC Government Center has not yet reached the design approval stage.
Several meetings have been held for county officials, employees and citizens to express their wants, needs and ideas for the facility.
“The working group has continued to work very hard, very collaboratively,” stated Rinehimer, “It truly has been a back-and-forth affair (with all the groups involved). We meet regularly and there is always a lot of discussion and changes being made. And, it is all coming from the comments we get back — either from you, the board, or the citizens, or our employees. And, we value that input.”
Sipes explained the site layout and provided several exterior design renderings to the board.
Function, design aesthetic and future costs of such a large building were discussed by the board, with the site layout, underground parking and outside spaces for employees receiving favorable comments.
Based on the current design concept, board member Mike Hipple expressed concern over a flat roof versus a slope to keep down on costly maintenance in the future. Vice-Chair Jim Icenhour agreed.
Board member John McGlennon said, “I do not like the (current) design. It didn’t strike me as having any unique reflection of our community and I know it is a real challenge with a building this massive. It’s too harsh and straight-edged everywhere. It just doesn’t seem to be the kind of statement a community would want to make as opposed to a corporate office park.”
“I like the (third) design,” Chair Ruth Larson stated. “One thing that I did like about the look was the synergy with the Rec Center.”
Another area of concern for the board is expanding the project to include a possible future school administration building on the property.
“The cost we spend today on this is going to be nothing compared to the cost we are going to spend on this in five, ten or 15 years,” expressed Hipple, who is in favor of an all-encompassing build timeline. “If you’re going to be a bear, be a grizzly.”
Without knowing the future status of the WJCC School division, however, Icenhour said the time or place may not be right.
“I agree in the long term it would be more cost-effective to build the additional wing but, I think what we have to wrestle with is what would be the use of that wing?” he said.
“These (site renderings) are not final, I want to stress that right now. There are still many opportunities to provide input,” Rinehimer said. “Be mindful that what you see today is not necessarily the final version of anything. We just want to know we are going in the right direction. We have listened. We have listened to employees, we have listened to you all (the board), we have listened to the citizens — and we think we have come up with a product that is exciting.”
Barbara Noll was not present.
On Oct. 1 at Legacy Hall, from 4 p.m. until 7 p.m., the public will have another opportunity to review and provide input on the design of the new JCC Government building.
