City of Muskego officials plan to spend $16 million to build a new city hall and to remodel and expand its existing city hall building to convert it into the city’s new police department facility.
The new city hall will be constructed on vacant land next to the existing city hall building at W182 S8200 Racine Ave., and will be connected to the new police department facility with a walkway, said Muskego Mayor Kathy Chiaverotti.
The new city hall will cost approximately $6.5 million and will be 25,000 square feet, slightly smaller than the existing 28,000-square-foot city hall building that was constructed in 1972.
Remodeling the current city hall into a police department and building a new garage for squad cars will cost approximately $9.5 million.
The city will borrow funds to pay for the projects, Chiaverotti said.
Chiaverotti said the new building will be more efficient and will also house city departments that are currently in the police department, including court clerks and IT. The council chambers will also be moved out of the basement of city hall to a larger space.
The existing police department facility was built in 1978 and is 23,200 square feet. There was an addition put onto the building in 1998. The current police facility is too small and does not have the security necessary, including a sally port, which is a secure, controlled entryway into the jail, Chiaverotti said.
The city has been talking about remodeling or building a new police department facility since the mid-2000s, Chiaverotti said. In 2012, a facilities study was done and a consultant looked at several options for all of the public buildings in Muskego.
“We came to this creative solution of remodeling city hall and repurposing it for a police department,” Chiaverotti said.
The city’s Common Council has scheduled a public information meeting from 5 to 7 p.m. Jan. 7 to discuss plans and get feedback.
Chiaverotti said the council is hoping to get bids on the project in spring and break ground in mid-2016. The existing police department facility, at W183 S8150 Racine Ave. near the existing city hall, will likely be sold when the police department moves in 2018, Chiaverotti said.
