Buckeye is about to have a new city hall. However, the what, where and how of the project have yet to be decided. That's where SmithGroup Inc. comes in.
Buckeye City Council approved a $458,000 award to the integrated design firm to begin planning its new city hall at the Oct. 21 meeting following a recommendation from Project Manager James Braveboy Jr.
“Our evaluation criteria was experience, approach and understanding of Buckeye’s vision,” Braveboy said. “SmithGroup was selected for their deep experience in design and visioning. They have a very strong record to include community engagement and a proven success in helping cities define their future government centers.”
Over the course of the next 22 weeks, the firm will provide the following functions, according to city documents and Braveboy:
- Complete a vision framework with city council, city staff and other stakeholders.
- Identify potential sites and conduct site analyses.
- Coordinate tours of other local municipal facilities.
- Design and implement in-person and digital public engagement strategies to gather data through methods including surveys.
- Create conceptual designs and renderings of site layout options, coordinating the project vision with other capital projects such as the Public Safety Headquarters.
- Provide projections for programming and staff needs from 5-30 years in the future.
- Provide a cost model.
- Create a final summary report including all collected data.
"This is their building, we just have an opportunity to do the city’s business in it,” he said. “Whatever we come up with the city hall design, it needs to have that feel that the residents of Buckeye belong there and their business is to be conducted there. So, it’s not so much what we think, but what they think.”
Review further information on the contract HERE.
One Response
This new building is completely unnecessary. It seems like a waste of money.