City Hall Survey

The City’s Facility Master Plan has identified the condition of City Hall as critical and recommends that the City divest of the property. Doing so could create for new uses that could strengthen economic vitality and reduce parking pressures in downtown Ashland.

The Plan also proposes a unified Civic Campus located outside the downtown area, creating an opportunity to co-locate City services and improve the overall customer experience. Two sites under consideration are Briscoe Elementary School and the Service Center at 90 North Mountain Avenue.

What is your vision for City Hall? We’d love to hear from you! The Ashland City Council will ultimately determine which option the City will implement.

1.What is your name?

2.What is your email address?

3.Would you like us to add you to our bi-monthly e-newsletter email list?(Required.)

Yes (please provide your name and email address above)

4.Which of the following options best aligns with your vision for City Hall?(Required.)

Consolidated Civic Campus
Consolidating City services and staff into a modern, publicly accessible civic campus at a different location could improve operational efficiency, enhance accessibility and support long-term cost control. A civic campus located away from the downtown area could create opportunities to repurpose City-owned properties downtown, strengthen economic vitality and reduce parking pressures. If Council selects this option, staff recommend following the phasing plan outlined in the Facilities Master Plan. The plan details facility changes needed for staff relocation and the divestment of select properties. Selling some City-owned properties could generate funds to support the development of architectural and engineering plans for the preferred campus design, including formal construction cost estimates.

Rebuild and Consolidate at Existing City Hall
Rebuilding or significantly redeveloping City Hall would require compliance with deed restrictions, including the potential requirement to reestablish a jail, as well as addressing parking and mandatory historic preservation considerations. The restoration and partial reconstruction costs are estimated to exceed $10 million. Even with those investments, City Hall would remain too small to house all departments, continuing operational inefficiencies across multiple locations and increased annual costs to the City.

Continue Current Approach
Maintaining City Hall would require ongoing maintenance and immediate investment to address code compliance and seismic upgrades, while continuing to operate services across multiple locations. Major improvements would also need to comply with historic preservation requirements due to the building’s deteriorated condition. In addition, deed restrictions would still need to be addressed. Annual operating costs are $31K per year, which does not include the required long-term maintenance costs that range from $756,500 to $1,346,000 over the next five years. This approach would still need to address parking and potential requirement to reestablish a jail. This option may no longer be viable if the building is determined to be unsafe for use.

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