City Council voted unanimously Thursday to accept an unsolicited proposal to build a new Stryker Center, providing an opportunity to receive competing bids.
The proposal, submitted by Guernsey Tingle Architects and Henderson, Inc., would demolish the circa-1967 Stryker Building and construct a new 14,000-square-foot building. The proposed Stryker Center would include council chambers and meeting rooms, offices for library staff, conference rooms for public use and a gallery space.
The proposal was submitted under the Public-Private Education Facilities and Infrastructure Act, which allows unsolicited bids. In the past year, the city has paid Guernsey Tingle a consultant hourly fee to help fine-tune the vision for the Stryker Building, but City Manager Jack Tuttle said that isn’t a guarantee the city will choose their proposal.
Now that council has accepted the proposal for publication, the plan will be published and competing architectural and construction firms will have until April 12 to submit proposals for consideration. The cost estimate submitted by Guernsey Tingle cannot be disclosed because the financial information is proprietary.
City staff plans to review all proposals and submit a recommendation to council by May 9, when it’s set to adopt its operating and capital improvement budgets. The city previously used the PPEA process to expand the Emergency Operations Center and construct Treyburn Drive.
Council members are in favor of a new Stryker Center, but are split on whether it should be a priority. At their retreat earlier this year, councilmen Doug Pons, Scott Foster and Paul Freiling expressed reservations about whether now is the time to replace the building, which is primarily used for board and commission meetings.
They brought up the same concerns Thursday, with Freiling saying he didn’t feel council had evaluated what other projects might exist that could bring more people downtown and funnel more revenue back into the city.
“If we accept this bid, we are sending a signal we’re ready for this,” he said, adding it isn’t responsible to do so if the city isn’t ready to move on the project in the coming year. “I ask that we have this other conversation about what other infrastructure needs we have downtown and in midtown that overall would provide a different level of vitality for this community.”
Pons said the project could be “very successful” and would be an improvement, but wondered if the building’s current problems – it’s too small, not compliant with the American Disabilities Act, possibly has mold – couldn’t be addressed through renovations. Tuttle said it’s possible a competing bid would take that route.
Mayor Clyde Haulman and member Judy Knudson both believe the time is right to borrow money for the project, which they think could increase downtown vibrancy. Haulman said he believed a new Stryker Center might have a “multiplier effect,” inspiring more businesses to open in the area near the library, along Boundary Street, Armistead Avenue and Scotland Street.
During a citizen comment period, commercial real estate broker Bob Singley, whose business faces the Stryker Building, advocated for a new construction. He said the renovation would “complete the vision” of council’s predecessors.
“I would submit to you that the timing is optimal,” he said, adding he examines whether tenants exist, what development costs would be and whether financing is available when he considers development projects. “You already have control of the tenants, know who they’re going to be, the development costs are only going to rise in the future and the financing hasn’t been better.”
Read the Stryker Center concept here.
