<< Previous   of   Next >> Enterprise/CHRIS GOODENOW  (click to enlarge) Shovels await the start of the ceremony during the groundbreaking for Shoreline City Hall and Civic Center, Tuesday, July 22, 2008 at North 175th Street and Midvale Avenue North in Shoreline. Enterprise/CHRIS GOODENOW  (click to enlarge) Shoreline City Manager Bob Olander addresses a crowd gathered to witness the groundbreaking ceremony for Shoreline City Hall and Civic Center, Tuesday, July 22, 2008 at North 175th Street and Midvale Avenue North in Shoreline. Enterprise/CHRIS GOODENOW  (click to enlarge) Shoreline City Councilmember Ron Hansen examines a visualization of the new Shoreline City Council Chambers, during the groundbreaking ceremony for Shoreline City Hall and Civic Center, Tuesday, July 22, 2008 at North 175th Street and Midvale Avenue North in Shoreline. Enterprise/CHRIS GOODENOW  (click to enlarge) City officials break ground at the official groundbreaking ceremony for the new Shoreline City Hall and Civic Center, Tuesday, July 22, 2008 at the corner of North 175th Street and Midvale Avenue North in Shoreline.

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CONTACT THE ENTERPRISE Jocelyn Robinson, News editor jrobinson@heraldnet.com

It's coming: Make way for the new City Hall

Ground-breaking ceremony brings excitement

By Amy Daybert
Enterprise editor

The dirt piled on the site of Shoreline's future city hall July 22 did not come from Shoreline but a group of 50 city officials, employees and residents didn't let that fact alter their excitement at the City Hall groundbreaking ceremony.

"This is a day many of us have been looking forward to for a very long time," Shoreline Mayor Cindy Ryu said. "It's second only to the opening of City Hall next year."

The four-story, approximately 67,000-square-foot building on the corner of Midvale Avenue North and North 175th Street won't be complete until August 2009 but city officials and residents can expect to start to see the building going up over the course of the next three months, according to city manager Bob Olander.

He asked those who attended the ceremony to imagine being in the new council chambers and walking out onto a public plaza that will be part of the site to enjoy a concert or another special function.

"(The development team) will develop a project we can all be proud of and that will stay on budget," Olander said. "I think we can all agree that when the project is finished it will be a focal point for our community."

Opus Northwest L.L.C. was selected as the third-party developer of the $30.5 million project based on the company's past successes on similar projects.

Shoreline's City Hall project began at a grassroots level with citizen involvement, P.J. Santos, an architect with Opus Northwest said.

"This is a project for the citizens, designed by the citizens," he said. "I can't say enough about how proud I am about that."

Property was purchased last year using funds that were specifically set aside for a new City Hall in previous years. The building is being designed to achieve a silver Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) rating and will include a green roof and a solar demonstration project which will be used to educate the community about solar power.