Four city-owned buildings next to the Visalia Corp yard and Sonic Drive-In are across Ben Maddox from the sprawling Civic Center property. Both sides are former rail yard parcels – now ripe for new development.
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Visalia eyes ‘interim’ plan to move City Hall
County/City talk dispatch consolidation
Visalia continues to look east this year as it plans its future, now joined by an increasing number of other agencies. And the timetable appears to be moving up.
After talking about the idea for decades, as soon as next summer we could see the relocation of City Hall to an ”interim site” on Ben Maddox from its 60-year old plus Acequia and Johnson address.
Meanwhile, both Visalia Unified School District and Tulare County are in talks to be part of a potential eastern consolidation as well.
According to a staff report on the project, published in recent weeks, some $4 million would be allocated “in accordance with Council direction to move services towards the future East Visalia Civic Center site, staff is proposing to relocate the services currently provided in the existing City Hall and other City-owned properties to the four vacant city-owned office buildings generally located on the south east corner of Houston Avenue and Ben Maddox Way, due east of the Civic Center plan area.”
The City of Visalia purchased the buildings in 2015 next to the Sonic Drive In. The buildings have been vacant since 2008. The City intends to use one of the offices for the Public Works Department administration( the Corp Yard is next door) and another to house the City’s Finance Department, and a new City Council Chambers/multi-use flexible meeting space, for use by City departments and the public.
The report indicates this an interim project ”while planning is underway to further develop the City’s goal to construct a new focused Civic Center/City Hall on the larger property surrounding the recently completed Visalia Emergency Communications Center (VECC). With the VECC as the first phase, this project is the next in a line of projects to accomplish the Council goal of anchoring the east downtown with a civic center, consolidating city services geographically.”
City manager Randy Groom has recommended a contractor,EBM Design Group, would carry out the work and said that construction of the shell buildings could be done as soon as August 2019.
The item was on the city consent calendar earlier this month but was pulled to allow further discussion expected in coming weeks.
Also in recent weeks Visalia Unified’s Superintendent Robert Groeber has indicated the district would be open to moving their admin offices to the East Visalia Civic Center, but not to the interim site. Groeber told the Times Delta earlier in June the following.
“We’ve been talking about that project for decades, back three city managers ago,” said Robert Gröeber, superintendent of administrative services. “That conversation has never changed.”
Gröeber said the district is open to the idea of moving its headquarters to the site, which city officials say will eventually house police and fire administrators and Visalia City Hall.
The school district moved into its current facility, located on Cypress Avenue near Akers Street, more than 30 years ago. While the district isn’t busting at the seams yet, as school enrollment increases every year they may feel the squeeze sooner rather than later.
Meanwhile Tulare County has its own growing pains looking for a future site for its own dispatch operation – currently buried in the old jail building in Burrel.
That building is scheduled for demolition in the future as the county relocates jail functions to the new Sequoia Field complex.
Supervisor Amy Shuklian confirms the dispatch department is considering the option of moving to the already functioning new VECC complex that carries out the same work for the city, where there is room to house the county operation. “It is just one option“ cautions Shuklian who adds that the county and city have exchanged some figures.
Also in play in this citywide musical chairs, the current City Hall building has some useful life in it still and is likely to be put on the sales block as the city plans this relocation. Sources say real estate experts have advised the city there is plenty of demand for the Downton block and adjacent parcels expected to help finance the move east.
The site is next to the growing Kaweah Delta medical district where the hospital continues their own march to expand their footprint. Kaweah Delta is expected to move forward this summer on several land purchases nearby to make more space for both medical services and parking.