New Mammoth Police Station finds its architect
After entertaining bids from five architectural firms, the Town of Mammoth Lakes has chosen HMC Architects to design the new 4,000-square foot police station at the Town-owned McLex Parcel on Sierra Park Road.
Town Council authorized a budget of two million dollars in July of this year, after scrapping previous plans for a 13,000-square-foot facility that was “a bit ambitious,” as Public Works Director Grady Dutton said. After going through a competitive bid process, the Town settled on HMC, which is an “institutional architect” (they primarily design public buildings) with offices all over the west. Chris Taylor, the principal in charge of the project at HMC, is based in Southern California. He describes himself as a “big Mammoth fan,” and a visitor in both summer and winter.
The lease on the current police station, on Old Mammoth Road, expires in December of 2017, so those involved are moving quickly to get the design portion of the facility completed. Town Council authorized the Town Manager to finalize scope and fee negotiations and execute an agreement with HMC at its meeting on Wednesday, Oct. 21.
After a contentious two hour plus-long discussion about the Multi-Use Facility at the same meeting, Council had no qualms about passing that motion 5-0.
Councilman Colin Fernie congratulated Police Chief Al Davis on his hard work on the project, saying “No offense chief, but police buildings probably aren’t the sexiest thing that we do as a council. I think it’s an exciting thing … we’ve had a long-term goal of improving our police facility … I’m very encouraged by all the conversation we’re having as far as the long-term vision of this site.”
One would be hard pressed to find a community member who does not agree that there is a need for an updated facility. The current location, according to Davis, used to be a place “where there were basically jacuzzis and you could rent them for an hour and hang out and party. And they had a pretty bad reputation, if you know what I mean.”
The Sheet took a tour of the current facility, which is 3,780 square feet but, according to HMC’s planners, is so inefficient in its use of space that it is more like a 3,500-square-foot building. The tour was quick—the highlight being the gaping hole in the ceiling above the officers’ locker room where cold mountain air blows in during the winter. “It makes them stronger,” quipped Hannah DeGoey, Executive Assistant at Mammoth Lakes Police Department.
One of the main ambitions for the design of the future building is its potential for an expansion when funds are more readily available. This was a key selling point for choosing HMC Architects, said Town Manager Dan Holler. “We’ve been very clear that this isn’t a two million dollar construction budget, this is a total two million dollar project budget, so it will be tight, and they [HMC] recognize that as well.”
“We’re on a very fast time frame for this project,” said Pam Koblyarz, Administrate Assistant to the Town Manager.
“Ideally we’d do all the design work this winter and be able to break ground this spring or summer,” said Holler. The Town is also looking forward to the site as a home for town offices once their lease in the Minaret Shopping Center expires.
HMC’s Chris Taylor will be visiting Mammoth in the first week of November to begin intensive work on the project. “They’ve got a really nice site that’s a good size,” said Taylor. “I think our only concern is attracting bidders to get a good value up there for Mammoth, because there are not a lot of public work contractors that live in [the area].”
Taylor praised Chief Al Davis’ work on the project and his dedication to the current station. “He’s actually cleaned that place up and painted it and made it as impressive as possible. He seems like he’s got a lot of passion for running that police department.”
