Geneva's century-plus-old city hall, police quarters score poorly in condition report
Given that Geneva aldermen meet in a building that is 108 years old, its shortcomings should not be a shock.
It's a rabbit's warren of offices, according to Craig Meadows of StudioGC, an architectural firm hired to evaluate seven city-owned buildings, including city hall. The firm examined the buildings' physical conditions, operational efficiency, security and accessibility.
A general overview report presented during a city council committee meeting Monday night showed the facilities are outdated and include system elements that are failing.
Among the findings was city hall has no rooms big enough to have large staff meetings. One room that is big enough is the city council chamber, which is on the second floor, not easily accessible to anyone from the public who uses a wheelchair or can't climb stairs.
It also rates poorly on security, according to the report Meadows gave aldermen. Building systems, including HVAC and windows, are beyond their useful life.
The same is true at the police station, where part of the building is 106 years old, according to the report.
"Everything presented tonight is likely not a surprise," Mayor Kevin Burns told the council Monday.
Still, "I'm like overwhelmed with the state of affairs here," Alderman Gabriel Kaven said.
The firm evaluated city hall, the police department, the city's two fire stations, the public works building, the sewage treatment plant building and the water treatment plant.
The average age of the buildings is 56. The oldest is city hall, followed by the police building; the sewage building is 88 years old; public works, 35; Fire Station 2, 28 years; Fire Station 1, 19 years; and the water plant, 12 years old.
Meadows said 75% of building elements are at the end of their useful life, or will be within five years.
"They are failing faster and faster and faster," he said.
On the operations part of the report card, city hall and the police building failed in all categories, including items such as adequate group workspace and efficient workflows. City hall and the police department don't have room to expand, according to the report.
The police station failed in all parts of the security category. Its site is not secure, especially because employees have to park in a public lot, security camera surveillance is lacking and there are no internal access controls to certain spaces.
Police don't use an area designated for people to come post bail for arrestees, because it floods often.
Aldermen will be given detailed reports about each building in the next few weeks, and will discuss financial implications Oct. 25.