April 23, 2017

Podcast: Community Cafe:
City invites citizen feedback on sites for police and court building

<i>Podcast: Community Cafe:</i> <br>City invites citizen feedback on sites for police and court building

 

In this 26-minute podcast, we learn the pros and cons of 6 alternative sites for the proposed new building for the City’s police department and municipal court.

City Council appointed Bainbridge-based architect, Matthew Coates, known for his green building designs like the Art Museum, to analyze sites and design the building.

We meet the local Bainbridge architect chosen by the City Council to review and rate the potential sites, Matthew Coates, who is president of Coates Design on Bainbridge Island. And the conversation is joined by City Communications Manager Kellie Stickney, who reports on the citizen engagement session at City Hall on April 12th, when about 100 citizens offered feedback to City police officers, City staff, and the Coates Design team, on the sites under consideration.

Of the three sites that scored favorably in the architectural and economic review, New Brooklyn was the highest scoring. Click to see enlarged and more detailed analysis.

In this podcast, Matthew reports on the months of comparative analysis, and his findings, since he was appointed by the City Council last October.

Kellie encourages citizens to stay engaged in this open process to identify the best site and eventually design a building that could embody green and sustainable design features, and offer public benefits for decades to come.

Matthew then describes the three sites that look least promising, in part because of inadequate size:
– Yaquina Road, east of 305
– North Madison Ave above 305, and
– 249 Winslow Way East.

And Matthew explains the pros and cons of the 3 highest scoring sites:
– New Brooklyn Road (the highest scoring by a few points)
– wooded land north of Vineyard Lane, and
– the existing site at 305 and Winslow Way.

Kellie encourages citizens to attend the next public meeting on this project, at the 7pm meeting of the City Council on Tuesday May 2nd, when there will be a formal presentation by Matthew Coates and an opportunity for additional public comment.

Credits: BCB host, audio editor and social media publisher: Barry Peters.