SLC plans a green, semicircular police HQ
By Derek P. Jensen
The Salt Lake Tribune
Updated 3 hours ago Updated Aug 11, 2010 01:22AM
Saying he is confident it will not be a “fortress” or “police monolith,” Salt Lake City Mayor Ralph Becker helped unveil a conceptual design for a four-story public safety complex Tuesday — a $125 million voter-approved project set for completion in 2013.
Flanked by the principal architects, the mayor praised the blueprint for the new police and fire headquarters, along with an emergency-operations center, east of Library Square on the southern end of 300 East abutting 500 South.
The semicircular entrance design includes a public plaza in the center and large lobby and garden spaces on each end. Designers also plan to open the midblock Blair Street to serve as a public corridor, “not a back alley or service lane.”
The shape, says GSBS Architects’ Kevin Miller, has “inviting character.”
“This is clearly going to be a building that is going to be welcoming to the community with a lot of active space,” Becker told the City Council.
The mayor and architects pledge that the complex will not spoil mountain views from Library Square nor from City Hall.
The design calls for two levels of underground parking, a narrowed 300 East as a security buffer and some open “event” space.
North of the planned buildings, nearer the Salt Lake Roasting Co. and Barnes Bank building, the plan pencils a patch of transit-oriented development anticipated for a retail-restaurant-housing combination.
Builders of the public safety complex, Becker says, aim to create a self-supporting “net-zero” energy structure, which partially explains the curved walls. At a minimum, the police-fire administration center will meet the city’s required silver status under Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design.
But councilmen Soren Simonsen and Luke Garrott panned two parking ramps — drawn to connect to 500 South — which they fear could kill pedestrian life.
“That will be a monumental mistake to write off 500 South,” said Simonsen, heralding the strip’s stately trees, urban condos and independent restaurants. “This is the thing I feared about this project.”
Garrott agreed, noting the city has taken measures to enhance the walkability of 500 South. “There’s no reason,” he said, “to give it up as an on-ramp to I-15.”
Council Chairman J.T. Martin defended the design, saying 500 South already is a major corridor that sees 33,000 cars a day.
Calling the parking access a necessary evil, the architects vowed to keep access to the building pedestrian-friendly.
Little detail was given on the emergency-operations center, part of which likely will include an underground bunker. Instead, council members questioned why state lawmakers seem unwilling to partner with the city on the bunker, a move that could save taxpayers $2 million.
“Two million dollars to state residents is quite a bit of money,” Martin said.
“It seems that way to me,” Becker responded. “The state’s responsiveness has not been what we would have hoped.”
Becker says the design allows an opening for the state to help fund a joint emergency-operations center, but suggested the Legislature act soon. “Literally every day is adding cost for the state to join us.”
Earlier this summer, a legislative committee expressed little interest in the partnership despite acknowledging the state’s emergency bunker on Capitol Hill is unsatisfactory.
In November, more than 65 percent of city voters approved the $125 million public safety bond. That amount (running about $75 a year on a $260,000 home) still will cover the cost of both buildings regardless of whether the city and state join forces.
Demolition of existing buildings on the 300 East block is slated to begin Feb. 1, with construction scheduled to be visible next fall.
“This is a good change from putting it on Library Square,” Councilman Van Turner said. “It’s a delightful building. You’ve incorporated a lot of our ideas.”
First look at public safety complex concept The City Council got its first look Tuesday at a concept for the new Public Safety Building and Emergency Operations Center. The Public Safety Building would have four stories on the south side and three on the north end. The Emergency Operations Center, not yet defined, would be a separate part of the complex.
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I thought this building was going to be at least 5-stories. That doesn't really make much sense to me. Why would they built something that seems to be smaller then what they have now that they are outgrowing? 
Anonymous $500K helps preserve canyon 
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