SEQUIM — By the time of the grand opening of the new civic center June 13, Sequim city officials expect to be settled into the new digs.

The 33,000-square-foot civic center under construction at North Sequim Avenue and Cedar Street will include a police station as well as most other city departments under one roof, eliminating the need to rent space in area buildings.

The $14.5 million construction project that replaces the 1973 City Hall at 152 W. Cedar St. is meeting schedule, and the center is expected to be ready on time, City Manager Steve Burkett said.

Furniture and equipment will begin to be moved to the first floor April 6 and to the second floor April 18, said Elray Konkel, administrative services director.

The building will be ready to be turned over to the city for use April 25.

Open house

An open house is planned May 1 for tours of the unoccupied building. The time of the open house had not been set as of this week.

About 50 of the city’s employees will begin to move into the building in mid-May, and functional operation of the building as City Hall and the Police Department is expected to begin May 18.

The $530,000 entry plaza, a public square between the civic center building and North Sequim Avenue, is expected to be complete June 1.

The first City Council meeting in the new chambers is expected to be June 8.

City services had outgrown the present City Hall, and several departments were located in rental spaces scattered throughout Sequim.

The Police Department has been in a cramped corner of the Sequim Village Shopping Center on West Washington Street, and the City Council met in the Transit Center, 190 W. Cedar St.

The city is paying for much of the project with a 30-year, $10,439,000 bond issued at a 4.53 percent interest rate.

The bonds will be repaid from several annual sources: $225,000 from a public safety tax approved by voters in 2012; $200,000 saved by eliminating the current rent for city office space, including the Sequim Village Shopping Center spaces; $75,000 from the real estate excise tax; and $160,000 from the city’s budget.

Additional funds to pay for construction include 20-year, $3.3 million water and sewer revenue bonds; a $60,000 Clallam Transit easement payment; $225,000 from the general fund for the Real Estate Excise Tax; $15,000 from interest earnings; and $350,000 from city savings established to pay for the project.

Furnishings

The cost of furniture and equipment to fill the new building was initially expected to be $460,000, but the cost has increased to about $640,000, Konkel said.

He said the city had expected to move council chamber furnishings and equipment from the Sequim Transit Center to the new building.

But officials recently learned that the furniture isn’t the city’s to keep.

He said the building is used as a meeting location for the Clallam Transit board when it meets in Sequim, by community groups and is expected to function as an emergency operations center during a crisis.

The furniture “has to stay with the building,” Konkel said.

Konkel said the dais and chairs at the transit center were purchased using federal grant funds for 80 percent of the cost and city funds for the remaining 20 percent.

There is room in the new civic center for an additional 20 employees as needed in the future for city growth.

The plaza will feature trees, an open space with both paved and grassy areas, and a totem pole donated by the Jamestown S’Klallam tribe.

The plaza is expected to be used during festivals and other public events.

________

Reporter Arwyn Rice can be reached at 360-452-2345, ext. 5070, or at arice@peninsuladailynews.com.