‘The community’s patience has paid off’: Ribbon cut for new Mountlake Terrace Civic Campus

Mountlake Terrace’s new Civic Campus was formally unveiled at an outdoor dedication ceremony Saturday, Sept. 18. City officials and staff were joined by federal and state representatives, community members who served on the project’s advisory committee, various residents who serve on volunteer municipal boards or commissions, and several former city officials and staff were also on hand for the celebration.

“We are extremely proud of our new Civic Campus that is welcoming and reflects the residents’ ideas on design and cost,” Mayor Kyoko Matsumoto Wright said. “It has taken more than a decade to get to this point, but the community’s patience has paid off with this beautiful campus.”

“It’s my pleasure to see so many people that have played key roles in our city’s past, present and our future leaders here today,” Wright continued.“Today we stand on the same site where Mayor Frank Hammer dedicated the city’s first newly-constructed city civic center in 1962.” She noted at that time the local population was approximately 10,000 people or roughly half of what it is today and the late U.S. Sen. Henry “Scoop” Jackson was in attendance then for the occasion.

U.S. Rep. Rick Larsen, identified by several speakers as being a key supporter of Mountlake Terrace at the federal level throughout the years, spoke during Saturday’s dedication. Also present at the event were State Reps. Cindy Ryu, Davina Duerr and Shelley Kloba.

The Civic Campus located on the southwest corner of 232nd Street Southwest and 58th Avenue West was built on the site of the former Mountlake Terrace City Hall. It includes a new, approximately 18,600 square feet, two-story city hall building and the project also incorporated a one-story, 3,100-square-foot addition to the existing police station. The campus features a sizable outdoor community space named the Jerry Smith Town Center Plaza, in honor of the longtime former Mayor Jerry Smith, who died in 2018. The plaza has concrete terraces and open areas for seating, an active water feature with lights, several sculptures by two separate artists, landscaping and lighting, along with a new parking lot that includes vehicle charging stations.

Construction on the campus began in January 2020 and the main funding source for the project was a $12.5 million voter-approved bond that received nearly 70 percent approval in 2017. The following year, the city council identified park impact fees as a funding source to design and construct the public plaza onsite. In 2019, the city received a $300,000 grant from the Hazel Miller Foundation to help pay for the design and construction of the plaza’s water feature.

The Civic Campus is connected to the Mountlake Terrace Transit Center via Veterans Memorial Park which it borders. In addition to City Hall and the police station, the campus also includes the Mountlake Terrace Library.

Mayor Pro Tem Doug McCardle said the new municipal campus and the centralized civic services available there represents an important connection between the community and the surrounding area. He noted the proximity of the new civic campus to regional transit facilities, Veterans Memorial Park and the city’s Town Center zone, “which is poised to accommodate the changes that will come with the opening of our (Sound Transit Lynnwood Link) light rail station.”

McCardle said that the long-term vision and planning for those various connective elements, including the Town Center plan and Civic Campus project, were accomplished “with a great amount of effort and community input by our residents, local businesses, local stakeholders and city staff.” McCardle also highlighted the relationship the city has with its state and federal representatives who “believe in Mountlake Terrace and are willing to support our projects and assist in seeking moneys to put towards these projects.”

McCardle added, “I would be remiss if I did not mention the most important connection the city has, the connection to the residents who have greatly assisted in the efforts,” and “the (city) council just wants to say a big hearty thank you for all you have done and thank you for all you are willing to do to ensure Mountlake Terrace is ready for the changes that are on the horizon.”

Congressman Larsen, whose has supported federal funding for several major projects in Mountlake Terrace during the nearly decade his district has represented the city, said that “success has many parents and failure is an orphan, and this town is a town of parents — it’s a lot of successes here.” The new Civic Campus provides “a one-stop shop for your residents to access services that they have come to depend upon,” Larsen said, including city hall, the police and fire stations, and Mountlake Terrace Library.

He noted that the Jerry Smith plaza will hold public events in the future and added, “The campus is also an example of how smart design breaks down barriers for people to participate in their democracy and their community and in the local economy.”

Larsen reported having met with city officials last month to discuss their vision for better connecting the Civic Campus with the nearby transit center and its future light rail services. “Thanks to the advocacy of city officials, I included a $2 million earmark in the House-passed spending bill for a lighted, paved, ADA-accessible pathway from here through Veterans Memorial Park down to the transit center,” he said. (Read more about that project and Larsen’s tour of the transit center here.)

Mountlake Terrace Police Chief Pete Caw said that his staff had a unique experience during the project since they “worked among the construction” while the police station improvements were made. The resulting addition, remodeling of the existing space, and technological infrastructure upgrades there represent a “vast improvement to what we had before,” he said, nearly doubling the size the department’s footprint. Caw also noted that the new training room, which is named in honor of former police captain Stan Krahn who died in 2017, is quite spacious – accommodating up to 108 people, “and something we’ve needed for a long time.”

Approximately 100 people turned out for Saturday’s dedication ceremony, where attendance was limited and masks were required due to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic. City staff anticipate possibly holding a public event when conditions allow them to do so. Local Cub Scouts from Pack 76 led a flag raising and salute as part of the event and attendees were also treated to cake after all of the speakers had finished giving their remarks in the new community plaza.

Two commemorative plaques were unveiled at the ceremony. One memorializes former Mayor Smith and the other recognizes the community input gathered, design team and various city officials who were involved in the Civic Campus project.

“As you can see, we did it,” Councilmember Laura Sonmore said of the new campus. “We actually did it, we realized a goal today.” She likened its completion of the nearly 13-year-long process to that of the perseverance represented in the folktale and children’s story The Little Engine That Could.”

Mayor Matsumoto Wright cut a ceremonial ribbon near the entrance to the new City Hall to mark the occasion before small group tours of the new facilities were offered to those in attendance.

Due to the pandemic and some remaining contractor work items, both City Hall and the police station currently remain closed to the public except by appointment for specific services.

Visitors to City Hall enter into a spacious lobby which features ample natural lighting and wood tones. There are two separate service counters — one is for welcoming visitors and the other is a cashier’s space, both of which have sealed glass partitions. A drop box where residents can make utility payments is located outside of the front entrance, and a kiosk for posting public notices will also be installed in the area.

The city council chambers, where public meetings will be held, are just off the lobby and include a vaulted ceiling, a large projector screen located behind the councilmembers’ seats and a monitor on each of the other three walls. Those who took a tour of the facilities were also shown a short video presentation, which can be viewed here, that tracked the history of Mountlake Terrace and its civic facilities throughout the past approximately 70 years.

There have previously been four City Hall locations since 1955, three of which were leased — including the interim space occupied since July 2009 after civic operations were forced to move from the former City Hall after a ceiling collapse. It was determined that the nearly 50-year-old building had to be replaced and it was demolished in 2010.

While the need for a new facility was recognized, it then took three separate bond measures before voters approved a plan and funding for the project.

Among those in attendance Saturday were two longtime residents — one of whom still lives in Mountlake Terrace — who were both present at the dedication of the previous City Hall building in 1962.

After the event, Phyllis Fiege, whose husband Gene served on the city council primarily during the 1960s, said that prior to the initial City Hall location in 1955, Evan Peterson — the first city manager in Mountlake Terrace — would use the backseat of his car to conduct official business and function as a City Hall of sorts until a building could be procured.

“I think that Mountlake Terrace has been a good city in providing what people wanted and I’m very proud of it and think this was quite a ceremony,” said Fiege, who traveled from Skagit County with her daughter Gale to attend the dedication. Gale Fiege added that it was important for the two of them to be at the event, even though they no longer live in Mountlake Terrace, because “it’s my hometown and it was great to grow up here, it was a very egalitarian city…everybody worked as a community and it’s nice to see that that’s still happening.”

Karen Miller, who was also at the previous dedication event in 1962, said afterward she appreciated the new City Hall coming to fruition and what it represented. “I am so glad because this city, as so many people (speaking) pointed out today, is a special city with hard-working people who worked for a living, all of them, and it’s nice to see recognition for their efforts.”

The City of Mountlake Terrace will soon share an online video presentation of Saturday’s dedication ceremony.

— By Nathan Blackwell