KINGSBURG – The not-quite-new but certainly improved and expanded Kingsburg City Hall should be ready for staff and residents as soon as next spring or early summer.
At the Kingsburg City Council meeting Sept. 2, City Manager Alex Henderson told the council that the city is now the official owner of the Van Beurden Building after escrow closed on Sept. 1. Located at 1600 Draper St., the council voted in June to buy the building and convert it into a dual city hall and emergency operations center.
Since then, Henderson said city staff have conducted a comprehensive feasibility review of the building to identify its physical condition, identify any environmental and accessibility concerns and begin planning for improvements needed before the transition.
“Overall, the building was found to be in generally good to fair condition, without the identification of a major physical condition that would prevent its continued use as an office facility or reconsideration of the purchase,” Henderson said.
City Hall needs
The Kingsburg council approved purchasing the building, which has been home to Van Beurden Insurance Services, in lieu of constructing an entirely new city hall. As Kingsburg has grown, so has the city’s staffing needs, and space for staff across all departments is getting tight.
The existing city hall on Draper Street is not one structure but is actually three separate, adjoining buildings. While the city owns one of the buildings, it leases the other two spaces. With the purchase of the Van Beurden Building, the city will simply own the one building it will occupy. Additionally, the move from the current city hall will open up those buildings to commercial businesses.
The city first began exploring options nearly two years ago and identified a site and architectural plans for a new-construction city hall. However, Henderson told the council that the Van Beurden Building was identified as a feasible and more cost-effective solution.
Kingsburg purchased the building for $4.5 million — a 60% savings from the cost of new construction. The city used development impact fees for a $1.5 million downpayment and will be financing the rest through the seller with a 5% interest rate.
The development impact fees used for the downpayment were ones specifically gathered to offset the impact that new housing developments have on city operations.
In addition to the building purchase, the city will have costs related to improvements needed to make the space suitable for use as a city hall and eventual emergency operations center. Henderson said the city will be able to use a $1 million community projects allocation from Rep. Jim Costa’s office to pay for these improvements.
Additionally, Henderson told the council that State Senator Melissa Hurtado earmarked $1 million in the state budget for the project. While the budget bill that includes the earmark was approved by the legislature, it still needs to be signed into law by the governor.
Building assessment
Regarding the state of the building, Henderson said an environmental assessment did not identify any existing contamination. The property condition assessment did find some longer-term capital needs items that the city will want to incorporate into future facility and financial planning. Henderson said this includes maintenance items like eventual roof repairs, HVAC replacement and elevator maintenance.
Another assessment completed included a review of the building’s accessibility features. Henderson said the city will need to further evaluate or correct the accessible parking spaces and striping, entry door operation and sidewalk and accessible route transitions.
“These findings are now being incorporated into the city’s discussions with the architect, so that accessibility improvements can be coordinated with other improvements rather than addressed independently,” Henderson said.
Further, Henderson said Kingsburg has started working with an architect to evaluate the layout of the building for its future use as city hall. Considering the building currently functions as a professional office space, it has many of the elements needed to house city staff.
Henderson said city staff believe the only building improvements that may need to be done will involve the public-facing spaces for the building’s municipal and emergency operations, as well as space for city council meetings.
The city is aiming to finalize improvement plans and a bid package for the construction by the end of the year, Henderson said. This puts a tentative timeline on construction in early 2027 and a move in late spring or early summer.
