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BIRMINGHAM — On April 3, the Birmingham City Commission held a special workshop meeting to discuss the potential renovation of City Hall and improved facilities for the Birmingham Police Department.
Project background
In 1928, the historic municipal building was built, which is the home of the Birmingham Police Department and City Hall. Since then, some renovations and additions have been done to the building; however, no major renovations have been done since 1993.
When the Birmingham Police Department completed the Michigan Association of Chiefs of Police Law Enforcement Accreditation Program in June 2021, the one category they did not meet was the safety and security of the Police Department building.
The department has to go through accreditation every three years, so in order to remain an accredited agency they must show that they have addressed the assessor’s concerns from the previous report.
Since the City Commission approved a contract with Telluris Architecture in July 2022, the Police Department has been working with them to develop final reports and conceptual plans.
Telluris Architecture was hired to complete an assessment of the current municipal building for the Police Department and City Hall and complete conceptual designs for renovations and possible expansion to address safety and security concerns noted during the MACP accreditation process. Final reports, conceptual designs and renderings have been submitted for review.
The total estimated cost for this project is just over $26.7 million. There would need to be a bond proposal for this project, potentially during the November 2024 election.
City Commission discussion
Prior to the introduction of the topic, City Commissioner Clinton Baller commented on the process of the special workshop meeting.
“I don’t think any of us were expecting a project of the scope and cost outlined in the second report, and given our limited time tonight, I think we should focus on the assessment report, and if we talk about anything further from that point, it should be the process that we use for looking at solutions to the problems,” Baller said.
Baller expressed in his comments that had he known administrators were considering a project of this cost, he would have had more concerns when the contract was brought to the City Commission. He also posed the question of why it was not brought to the City Commission’s attention as soon as the project grew beyond their original expectation.
“The administration told the commission and this is a direct quote, there will be no consideration of a new building or facility. The safety and security upgrades may be accomplished by potential renovations and/or expansion of the existing building,” Baller said. “So you can imagine the surprise when in January at the long-range planning meeting, the administration told us that a new building was indeed being considered and then here in tonight’s packet presented detailed concept designs for a new $27 million building.”
City Manager Tom Markus responded to Baller’s comments to “set the record straight.”
“There was never an intention to suggest that we would not build something, an addition onto this building, which you can interpret as a new building, but it was intended to say when we wouldn’t move off-site. We learned our lesson 30 years ago when we had that discussion. That’s where that came from,” Markus said.
Markus said that 30 years ago, the community was strongly against building a brand-new City Hall.
In order to show the issues that were identified in the phase one assessment report, Police Chief Scott Grewe led a tour through City Hall.
The assessment report highlights several issues regarding security, space, structure, mechanics, electrical and more for the interior and exterior of the building.
Parking lot public safety concerns, walking hazards, electrical issues and cracks in the construction are among the main concerns of the exterior.
Internal concerns mainly revolve around security and safety vulnerabilities.
City Hall is lacking some egress windows for exits in the event of an emergency.
In some of the areas where there are egress windows, the path is congested with obstacles.
The interior has issues with available space and storage in multiple departments. This lack of space, in some cases, could result in privacy and security issues for City Hall and the Police Department.
Since the workshop ended up concluding before there was time to complete the opportunity for questions, discussions and the full presentation, they will hold a second workshop session on a further date.
