While enthusiastic about community center site concepts, Willmar City Council wants more options on city hall

Dec. 6—WILLMAR

— Willmar City Councilors showed enthusiasm for two of the proposed locations for a new community center during a recent work session, but at the same time were not keen on the proposed locations for a new city hall and more work will be done.

Four site concepts were proposed for the community center, one of which combined city hall and the community center on Block 50 in downtown, located between the Willmar Public Library and CentraCare — Rice Memorial Hospital.

The other three proposed locations for the community center were Gesch Park, Lincoln Park and south of Lakeland Elementary, all in southeast Willmar. All three of these locations offered space to accommodate easy access and parking.

Additionally, three site concepts were proposed for a stand-alone city hall in downtown Willmar, one of which was the Block 50 location. The other two site concepts were on the same city block where the Willmar City Offices building currently sits — a two-story city hall built on the current Hardware Hank site at 314 Fifth St. S.W. or a two-story city hall built on the site of the current city offices at 333 Sixth St. S.W.

Senior design leader Chris Paklowitsch and government practice leader Bruce Schwartzman of BKV Group presented their ideas last week on the proposed locations, as well as high-level design concepts for the buildings and grounds.

The next step for city staff is to continue working with BKV Group to find a city hall site that is appealing to the council and work through a couple of proposals that have come to light in the last two months, according to City Administrator Leslie Valiant.

"As staff, we want to keep the conversation going with council, so we will be providing updates each month to council as we work with the architect and vetting the other proposals (for a new city hall)," she said Tuesday.

For the community center, city staff will work with BKV Group focusing on needs and programming to provide clearer direction on what is needed for the building and grounds, Valiant said, noting she hopes to have something to the City Council by early February.

The size of the new community center based on the site concepts presented at the Nov. 29 work session would be just shy of 28,000 square feet and would cost approximately $13 million to $14 million to build, according to Schwartzman.

The size of a new city hall would be approximately 32,000 square feet and cost approximately $15 million to $18 million to build.

The city currently has $2 million set aside from the local option sales tax for the community center, and the city's budget in 2022 and 2023 included approximately $500,000 each year for debt service on any bonds that may be taken out for construction of a new city hall.

It was also pointed out during the meeting that the site concepts and designs were very "high-level" and could change.

"These are kind of plug-and-plays that you can move around if we're not down in development so deep, I think is how you stated it, that you can be nimble and put it someplace else," Mayor Marv Calvin commented.

"Exactly, this is a really high-level analysis" Schwartzman replied. "Programming (at the community center) helped identify the spaces with the conception of walk plans and to make sure that the building could fill the site and parking can be accommodated. The next phase of development in whatever site you pick ... then delves more into the actual layout of the building, how the configuration might fit, but it is very much a plug and play at this point."

Councilors immediately decided they were not impressed with the proposed combined location for the community center and city hall on Block 50, currently a large public parking lot located between the library and the hospital along Trott Avenue Southwest.

It was noted that the location did not offer space for many of the amenities which the community wants in a community center.

This was also one of the locations for a proposed stand-alone city hall. The main issue with the proposed Block 50 location for the city hall was the reduction in parking it would create, even if the city were to turn the current city hall location into parking once the new building was constructed.

The site concepts for the Hardware Hank and City Hall sites were just not appealing to City Council members.

Because councilors did not like any of the proposals for city hall, it is back to the drawing board. However, city staff and the BKV Group were directed by the council to consider what it would look like for a new city hall to be constructed at the location of the current Willmar Community Center.

Each of the community center sites was chosen for ease of access and expandability. Each of the four site concepts included a covered dropoff area, a patio, and a significant amount of parking close to the building due to the use of the community center by a lot of seniors.

The location for the community center that councilors were most enthusiastic about was the Gesch Park location at Olena Avenue and 12th Street Southeast. The Lincoln Park location was a close second, north of Minnesota Avenue and east of Ninth Street Southeast.

The location near Lakeland Elementary School, south of the school and north of Willmar Avenue Southeast, did not receive as much enthusiasm, but also was not seen as a terrible location.

"(I have a) strong preference for Gesch Park. I like that we are making use of the wetlands, I like that we are getting trails out there; it's also larger, has the best parking," said Councilor Justin Ask. "It's going to offer great garden space. It seems like it's checking the majority of the boxes in ways that others don't."

"I'm going to double-down on that Gesch Park location," said Councilor Andrew Plowman. "I think location-wise you can't do much better than that with its proximity to the neighborhoods, Bethesda's campus, the YMCA, Lakeland Elementary, and all the surrounding neighborhoods and the trail and sidewalk system around that area."

He noted it has the space and aesthetics to offer everything the community is asking for in a community center, and is centrally located. He added that this may be a good location for a combined community center and city hall if financially feasible.

Councilor Julie Asmus said she preferred the Lincoln Park site for the community center due to its accessibility from Trott Avenue, but liked the Gesch Park site, as well.

The parks currently located at the Gesch and Lincoln park sites would remain and be refurbished and/or provide better amenities than they currently offer, but may be moved to a different location within the site, according to BKV Group.

Councilor Tom Butterfield stated youth baseball and softball associations were concerned with losing the ball field at Lincoln Park.

Willmar Parks and Recreation Director Rob Baumgarn informed the council the city gained a field with the complex at the Willmar Civic Center and there are still the softball fields on school property.

"(If we are) taking a field out of the equation, I think we just have to get creative about whatever fields everybody uses and maximize the space that we have," he said. "For example, can we use Garfield Field a little bit more?"

City Planning and Development Director Justice Walker said the reimagined park at the Lincoln Park location would have similar or improved amenities to be on par with neighborhood parks like Rice or Miller Park.