$28.8M renovation at Waite Park City Hall begins in May

WAITE PARK — Waite Park city staff members are moving their offices as renovations to city hall soon get underway, according to city administrator Shaunna Johnson.

The project, which comes with a $28.8 million price tag, will include:

• Expansion of the north side of the current city hall to accommodate a new police department, with a basement connected to the existing one.
• A large multi-purpose room for meetings on the east side of the building.
• A new entrance on the north side.
• A renovation of former police department spaces for administrative and fire department needs.

Johnson said the project will be funded by $20 million in sales tax, and the city intends to bond the remaining $8 million. Waite Park voters approved a .5% sales tax in 2022, and collections began in April 2023, Johnson said.

The renovation is meant to address a space need: the Waite Park Police Department staff has tripled since the last renovation in the early 2000s; the fire department has no additional room for storage, equipment or vehicles; and city staff has run out of room, according to a handout provided by Johnson.

Waite Park City Hall is at 19 13th Ave. N.

Contributed / City of Waite Park

The current city hall was one of three locations assessed by Waite Park city staff for possible renovation:

• City hall at 19 13th Ave. N.
• The former public works building at 602 Third St. S.
• BioLife at 351 10th Ave. S.

Renovation at city hall comes with a price tag of $28.8 million — but lower than renovating the old public works building (projected to cost $30 million to $33.8 million) or the BioLife site (projected to cost between $29.8 million and $33.6 million).

Ultimately, the city went with the more cost-effective option, Johnson said.

“We came to a consensus that locating at the existing city hall was going to be the most economical (option),” Johnson said. “It was going to check more of those boxes, because it was also going to allow us to make improvements to the administration side and expand some of the office needs that administration had as well.”

Contributed / City of Waite Park

Waite Park's city hall building will be closed starting on Thursday, May 1. The city will work from the public works facility, at 670 17th Ave. S., beginning on Monday, May 5.

The Waite Park City Council (which typically meets the first and third Monday of the month) and the Waite Park Planning Commission (which meets the second Tuesday of the month) will conduct their meetings at the St. Cloud Area School District 742 offices at 1201 Second St. S. in Waite Park.

Johnson said residents will not be able to use the city’s prescription dropbox or fingerprint scanning services during the move.

The renovation project is expected to take about 16 months.