Springfield justice center might take 4 years to rise.

Byline: Bob Keefer The Register-Guard

SPRINGFIELD - It may take as long as four years for the city to plan and build its new $28 million downtown justice center and municipal jail, the City Council was told Tuesday night.

City Manager Mike Kelly and Carole Knapel, project manager for the building, laid out the timeline during a council work session about the justice center, which Kelly said will be "by far the dominant building in downtown Springfield" when completed.

"Between now and being totally open will take about three to four years," he said. "And between now and the start of that three- to four-year journey, there's a few things we need to do."

Those initial tasks include creating a citizen advisory committee, selecting an architect and developing a site plan, which may require amending city master plans to accommodate the center.

In a timeline presented to the council, the city will advertise for resident committee members in February and select members on Feb. 21. Likewise, the city is to advertise for, interview and finally select an architect for the project by May 16.

In November, voters approved a $28 million bond measure to finance construction of the center, which is to include a new police station, municipal courts and prosecutor's office, and a 100-bed city jail. The council has said it will build the jail portion of the project only if it can identify a funding source to operate the jail, which is estimated to cost about $1.4 million a year.

Councilors discussed but made no decision on the size of the citizen committee, which is to include members from an existing citizen panel, the Police Planning Task Force. Councilor Tammy Fitch said 16 should be the upper limit for the advisory committee; Mayor Sid Leiken said he thought nine "is a good solid number."

Councilor John Woodrow, who represents the council on the Police Planning Task Force, volunteered also to sit on the justice center advisory committee when it forms.

In other council action, Woodrow was unanimously elected council president for a two-year term. He succeeds Fitch.