Wednesday night the Poulsbo City Council will vote on whether to
issue the last phase of bonds to help pay for the new city hall.
Assuming the vote is in the affirmative and the project continues
forward, it might be high time to start thinking about another
aspect of this project that has largely been off the radar.
What to do with Poulsbo City Hall? No, I don’t mean the new one.
The old one. Also on Wednesday, the council will address that
issue. Part of the financing package for the new building includes
selling the land where the current city hall resides.
I’ve floated this idea to a few folks and haven’t gotten any
crazy looks, so I’ll take that as a sign I’m on the right track.
Bear with me:
Almost all of the discussion thus far has been about cost and
location of the new building. But I think the back end of this
project will have a much greater effect on the average Poulsbo
resident or downtown visitor. This isn’t me discounting the
importance of the fact that it’s the most expensive municipal
building project in the city’s history, but I think people will
experience the change more profoundly when something new goes in
the current city hall pad.
It’s a large piece of property, right smack dab in the middle of
downtown. Combine that with an entire block for sale just a
stone’s throw away (Not city owned), and you’ve got major
potential to dramatically change the way downtown Poulsbo looks,
feels and functions. Condos? New retail? Tall buildings? Hotels?
Conference centers? Who knows?
As for the city’s land, it brings up the question of how much it
can or wants to direct the sale. Because the city has prime land in
the heart of downtown, I can see how some might want to guide the
sale toward an element the city feels will benefit downtown. But
constricting the uses to what you might desire could, in theory,
lead to a lower sale price. What happens if the city sells the land
without any caveats, and someone buys and develops something that
doesn’t necessarily conform to what politicians and/or locals want
to see downtown?
Interesting questions, I think.
What would you like to see happen with the current city hall
property on Jensen? Discuss.
– Derek Sheppard