The only thing missing from Silverton’s new city hall and police station is the trash cans.
After nearly a decade in planning and development, the 26,000 square foot, $20 million building located at 401 North Water St. is open for business.
The city was able to build the new city hall without costing taxpayers more.
Silverton outgrows existing city hall on Water Street
The former city hall, located at 306 South Water St., was built about 100 years ago. It was outgrown long ago. The city hasn’t had city council meetings there in decades. Those have been held across the street at the Silverton Community Center.
“It’s an old armory building the city has leased for 30 years, up until like a week and a half ago,” City Manager Cory Misley said.
Silverton Mayor Jason Freilinger said there have been contentious city council meetings that have drawn 100 people. To accommodate them, they had to use a gym in the armory building for the overflow of people. Things like heating, cooling and technology have been consistent problems.
The concept of building a new city hall has floated around for decades, but it gained momentum when state Rep. Rick Lewis, R-Silverton, was Silverton mayor from 2014 to 2017.
But new city halls are not cheap, and it’s never easy to find the money to build them.
Figuring out how to pay for new Silverton city hall without taxing people more
When most cities want to build a new city hall, they put a bond measure to voters. Those increase property taxes for homeowners for a specific time, such as 20 years.
Silverton’s city council decided they needed to figure out ways to get the money together. And passing bonds has been difficult in the city.
“I think it is very fair to say who needs the money the most is the school district,” Freilinger said. “Philosophically I would say the fire district and the city and the library all need to live within their means because we as a community need to focus our attention on schools.”
The city started saving money out of its general fund as far back as 2016, Silverton finance director Kathleen Zaragoza said.
She said the Silverton urban renewal agency gave a $2.2 million grant toward the project. The city also added $2.3 million of American Rescue Plan Act funds. It also received a brownfield (redevelopment) grant for $60,000, a state grant for $500,000 and a $25,660 grant from Energy Trust of Oregon.
The city also earned $766,000 in interest in the past couple of years that it put toward the project.
To pay the remaining $10 million, the city took out a 25-year municipal loan in 2022.
Demolishing former Eugene Field School
Located in the north end of Silverton’s downtown, Eugene Field School was built in the 1920s. The Silver Falls School District closed it in 2016 and the city purchased the 1.8-acre property for $1 million in 2017.
After the city purchased the building, some community members advocated for remodeling and repurposing the building for another use. The city instead decided to demolish it and put the city hall there.
“There were people who were sentimental about it,” Freilingner said.
A contractor started demolition of the building in 2019. That hit a snag when contractors found an underground heating oil tank that needed to be removed, delaying the demolition.
Shortly after purchasing the property, the city council discussed building the new city hall in phases on the site. That would mean a police station would be built first. That changed when the city councilors looked at the finances.
“There’s the economy of scales is doing it all together,” Freilinger said. “The other thing is the natural reality of everything gets more expensive over time. So if we have the ability to do it now, why cost the taxpayers more down the road.”
Delays in completing new Silverton city hall
Construction of the new city hall started in 2022 with a price tag of $15.4 million. Construction was supposed to be completed in July 2023, but that was pushed back several times due to delays for materials.
“The building is six, maybe you could say seven months behind schedule, but the key thing for me is we’re under budget, not over budget,” Freilinger said.
Freilinger said former city councilor Dana Smith and community development director Jason Gottgetreu undertook a value engineering of the project, which figured out things that weren't necessary to complete it. That saved about $1 million by doing things like changing the entrances to have separate ones for the police department and the rest of city hall and holding off on purchasing things like partitions to separate rooms. And trash cans.
The building has an array of solar panels on the roof. Oregon has a state law requiring public bodies constructing a new building spend at least 1.5% of the costs on green energy.
“There might have been a requirement, but council would not have built this if it wasn’t as close to carbon neutral as we wanted,” Freilinger said.
Room for future development next door to new Silverton city hall
The new city hall was built on the northern half of the 1.8-acre block.
There is a still-vacant .9 acre lot to the north of the completed city hall separated by A Street. It was used as sports fields for the school, and since has been used as an unofficial dog park.
The current concept is to transform it into a regional transportation hub.
“We want more regional bus connectivity,” Misley said. “We want to enhance our bicycle network. And we need more parking.”
On the south half of the block where city hall is located, the current concept is developing it into a park.
Features in the new Silverton city hall
The police department occupies most of the first floor. There is a separate emergency operations center, also on the first floor.
The second story includes the city council chambers. The dais was made by Oregon Corrections Enterprises out of the wood from a tree that was on the property.
Wood from the former Eugene Field School also was used for decorative walls behind the dais, on the walls in a few other places in the building and for a bench just inside the front door.
The second floor also includes city administration offices. And there are plenty of conference rooms.
The ceremonial grand opening and celebration for the community took place in early June, though the building was empty.
It took a lot of time and a lot of people to get the new city hall done.
There have been seven city managers and four mayors in Silverton to get the new city hall built, with Lewis serving in both positions at different times.
And the building has room to grow.
“Hopefully it lasts another 100 years,” Freilinger said.
Bill Poehler covers Marion and Polk County for the Statesman Journal. Contact him atbpoehler@StatesmanJournal.com
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