Will view

Dolce design



By RUTH HEIDE

ALAMOSA — Next Wednesday developer Darin Dolce hopes to present a “blue light” special to the Alamosa city council for redevelopment of the former Kmart building into a municipal center.

The new owner of the former retail store is offering another option for a new city hall/library/police station complex besides the proposal to build a new city hall/library east of the current city hall and remodel the existing city hall for the police and fire departments.

Dolce is offering to sell 37,000 square feet or about 40 percent of the total Kmart building to the city for $2.6 million for city hall, library and police department purposes.

In Dolce’s plan the city hall is proposed to occupy more than 13,000 square feet, the library 14,800 square feet and the police department about 9,000 square feet of the total square footage.

The city would perform the “tenant finish.”

Both Dolce’s architect and the city-contracted architect have developed cost estimates for that tenant finish which will be presented during the September 2 city council meeting.

The council will then review its options for a new city hall complex. The city has already submitted a grant application to help fund the project.

Dolce’s estimates for the tenant finish total $1.2 million.

He said for $3.8 million (purchase and tenant finish), or about $102 per square foot, the city could have a new municipal center. He said the estimate for a new city hall complex downtown ran $125 per square foot.

The work Dolce plans to perform before the tenant finish, according to his proposal, includes: parking lot repairs; landscaping; other site work such as new curbs; roof replacement; new front façade, stucco and brick finish and exterior paint; utilities to the space; some of the new windows; and other items.

The city would be responsible for: clerestory light monitors; plumbing systems; heating, ventilating and air conditioning systems; electrical service; some of the new windows; covered police parking/entry; interior partition walls and associated fixtures; floor finishes; countertops and cabinets; council chambers fixtures; and other furnishings.

The city would also be responsible for monthly association dues for such costs as snow removal and maintenance. Dolce estimated the city’s share to be $530 a month.

Dolce said on Thursday he believed his proposal would be better for a new municipal center than the existing downtown area because it would provide more interior space and more parking space without threatening historic buildings and Cole Park and without adding congestion to the existing town hall/library area.

The space would also be on one level so it would comply with Americans with Disabilities Act access requirements. The lack of ADA compliance with the two-story city hall is one of the precipitating factors for building a new one.

Dolce said his proposal would provide 37,000 square feet for the city hall, library and police department as opposed to 25,000 square feet for the existing-site-downtown design.

“There’s quite a bit of difference there,” he said.

Dolce said the Kmart building would also provide room for future growth and would bring in additional tenants that would complement the municipal center.

He explained that when he purchased the property about six months ago his vision for the building included a municipal center and convention center with space for large receptions, banquets and other functions.

“I want the building to look nice and pleasing from the inside out,” he said.

Architectural renderings of Dolce’s proposal are available for the public to view at the RE/MAX Sierra Vista office at 2209 Main Street in Alamosa.

“I want everyone to see what the numbers are,” Dolce said. “I know the costs would be less for the city to move over to the Kmart building.”

Dolce said he believed the plan to build a new city hall near the current site created more problems than it solved.

He added he did not believe the current city hall building was a focal point for the city, as town halls are in other cities, so it would not damage the downtown character to move city hall out of it.

“I don’t think Alamosa was developed around city hall,” he said.

Dolce said the current city hall location is hard for visitors to Alamosa to find. He moved to Alamosa in 1992 to go to college and subsequently started a company. He said he had problems finding city hall when he first went to pay his water bill and believed the location was a hindrance for others as well.