White Rock councillors are to receive a seismic report on the city hall Monday evening and decide what they should do with the aging building.
Discussions about replacing the nearly 60-year-old structure have been on-going for nearly 20 years.
The primary concerns with the current structure is its size, its ability to withstand an earthquake, and accessibility challenges.
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Council will hear Monday that it’s expected to cost about $1.8 million to do a seismic retrofit and would take at least nine months to complete.
Options to be presented to councillors include doing a seismic retrofit; partial seismic retrofit; rent commercial office space; relocate staff to other city-owned buildings; and build a new city hall either alone or with partners.
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Staff recommend that council move towards building a new city hall, which could cost approximately $25 million.
Staff recommend that a consultant be hired to develop, evaluate and assess the feasibility options for a future city hall. Staff also recommend that council endorse the development of a five-year implementation plan.
The report concluded that White Rock City Hall is rated as a “High Risk” building, based on the Seismic Retrofit Guidelines.
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“This building could fail from the ground motion predicted for a 100-year return period earthquake,” the city staff report notes.
“Given the growing needs of the City, seismically retrofitting City Hall may not offer the best value. It is recommended that a consultant be retained to develop options and provide a feasibility study for the future of City Hall and a 5-year implementation plan that would include the civic precinct.”
