The City of Corvallis is preparing to rebuild a variety of municipal buildings in downtown, including city hall, the police station and other office buildings.
Now, city officials are asking an all-important question with such projects, how to pay for it.
Options include a payroll tax, a general obligation bond, a temporary property tax and state or federal grants.
An estimate done last year placed the cost of rebuilding of a group of municipal buildings known as Civic Park and the police station at around $200 million.
The City of Corvallis will hold an open house Aug. 12 at 6:00 p.m. in the Law Enforcement Building's conference room at 180 NW 5th St. Among those in attendance will be its financial consultant, Clearwater Financial.
Corvallis spokesperson Patrick Rollens said the 101-year old city hall building is an example of why new facilities are needed.
"It was built as a church. It served as a dormitory for the university for a period of time. It’s been sort of an office space over the years, and the city acquired it in the 1950s as a temporary city hall with the understanding that there’d be a purpose-built structure that would get put in place shortly after. But it’s been our city hall since then," he said.
Rollens said the building does not have spaces that accommodate functions normally done in a city hall. Among his examples were its lack of a room to hold city council meetings. Those are held at a nearby firehouse.
Along with the meeting, residents can offer their opinion via an online questionnaire.
