Title
Recommendation to City Council on Whether to Issue Debt for Yelm Highway Community Park Phase I Construction and the Armory Arts Center Phase I Renovations
Report
Issue:
Whether to recommend to City Council to issue debt for Yelm Highway Community Park Phase I Construction and the Armory Arts Center Phase I Renovations
Staff Contact:
Sylvana Niehuser, Director of Parks Planning & Maintenance, Parks, Arts and Recreation Department, 360.753.8068
Presenter(s):
Sylvana Niehuser, Director of Park Planning & Maintenance
Tammy LeDoux, Parks Finance & Policy Coordinator
Background and Analysis:
Armory Arts Center
The City of Olympia is working to transform the historic Armory building into a new Arts Center. The working vision of the Armory is to support the arts as integral to Olympia’s way of life; encourage community growth through creativity and innovation; use the arts to connect people, ideas, and place, while operating from an equity framework. In 1989, the City first identified a need for a regional arts center with exhibition space, working studios and rehearsal space for regional artists. Additionally, the Community Arts Center is called out in eight other community planning documents. The Comprehensive Plan specifically calls for the regional community arts center under PR 8.1. The Armory Arts Center fulfills many needs for the arts and meets several goals and priorities throughout the City’s Comprehensive Plan. The Community Arts Center was also part of the 2004 Voted Utility Tax ballot measure.
The Olympia Armory Building is located at 515 Eastside St SE and was transferred to the City of Olympia in March 2022 from the State of Washington as directed by the Washington State Legislature.
In January of 2024, eight non-profit arts organizations were identified as future tenants (Anchor Partners for the building), including The Bridge Music Project, Capital City Pride, Community Print, Kokua Services/Hummingbird Studio, Olympia Film Collective, Olympia Lamplighters, PARC Foundation and TC Media. These organizations will create a core partner group to activate the campus and bring the community vision to life. These organizations will enter into contract negotiations with the City of Olympia to enter into a lease agreement for different areas in the Armory Creative Campus with the intention to move in for the Armory Creative Campus grand opening currently slated for 2026.
The Armory building is currently closed for construction to complete essential life/safety and accessibility upgrades that will make the Armory building a safe, accessible, and functional space that will transform into a community arts center. The selected Anchor Partner organizations will work with the City of Olympia and Ameresco, the contractor for construction, to help inform the design and construction process for the upgrades over the next two years.
To date the Armory project has secured $2,575,000 in grants and partnership contributions and the City has invested $1,223,500 into the project. To maintain the facility we spend approximately $400,000 a year.
Yelm Highway Community Park
The Yelm Highway Community Park project is built on over two decades of community planning and prior investments into the property acquisition, master plan development, land use permit approval and habitat conservation plan mitigation. The park is located at 3323 Yelm Highway in Olympia’s urban growth area.
History of the Park:
2004: Olympia voters pass the Voted Utility Tax Measure to increase the park system by 500 acres. Yelm Highway Community Park site listed in voter fact sheet.
2004: Greene Parcel (3.24 acres) purchased at SW corner of Wiggins Rd. and Yelm Highway to get a toehold into hopeful future larger park acquisition.
2010: Olympia community identifies the need for a community park to accommodate soccer fields in the 2010 Parks, Arts and Recreation Plan.
2014: Yelm Highway property identified as the preferred site for a future community park in the 2014 Community Park Suitability Assessment.
2016: Community Park to include soccer fields is again included in the Parks, Arts and Recreation Plan.
2018: City purchases 83 acres for $10.7 million from the Zahn family for a Community Park with dedicated soccer fields.
2019: Developed park master plan with expansive input community.
2021: Awarded $1 million acquisition grant from WA State Recreation and Conservation Office (RCO).
2022: Awarded $850,000 development grant from RCO for construction of Phase 1 park improvements.
2024: Awarded $2 million development grant from RCO’s Land and Water Conservation Fund for construction of Phase 1 park improvements.
2024: Thurston County Hearings Examiner approves the land use permit for Yelm Highway Community Park and a Certificate of Inclusion in the Thurston County Habitat Conservation Program for gopher mitigation is issued for the park site.
2024-2025: Work is underway to complete 100% design and construction documents, and prepare the project for bid in late 2025.
Phase 1 park improvements include:
• Park maintenance office and shop buildings, and supporting elements such as parking, fencing, materials storage, and covered storage.
• One full-size lighted synthetic turf soccer field with all necessary associated items such as netting and goals.
• Thirteen pickleball courts (1 ADA accessible) and associated items such as seating, site furnishings, fencing, and gates.
• Two full-size basketball courts.
• One mini-pitch soccer field (Sounders RAVE Foundation funded) and associated YALP interactive play equipment.
• Restroom building that also accommodates storage, food truck support, and space for the sprayground mechanical and plumbing equipment. This building will be located in a central plaza area that will also accommodate seating, covered bike parking, trash, etc.
• Two picnic shelters
• Playground
• Multiple paved loop trails
• Site furnishings (bike racks, seating, picnic tables).
• Dog park
• One asphalt paved parking lot and one gravel parking lot to support activities at the north end of the park as well as the dog park.
• Art incorporated into the landscape (1% for the Arts Program).
The project is expected to be completely designed and bid ready in Fall 2025. Construction will start in early 2026 and will likely take a year to complete.
To date, the City has invested $14,066,000 into the project and secured $3,867,000 in grants and partnership contributions.
A financing package for both projects is currently being developed and will be presented at the meeting that will look at the capital and operational costs of opening these new facilities.
Climate Analysis:
Through working with the DES Energy Program and Ameresco, all building improvements for the Armory Creative Campus will be approached through an Energy Conservation Lens. Because building use will change and occupancy will increase, we will most likely see an increase in energy use but a longer-term reduction of greenhouse gas emissions from the improvements to this building, especially as we commit to look for opportunities for clean self-sustaining energy such as solar.
At Yelm Highway Community Park, the park maintenance buildings will utilize electric heat pumps and be built solar ready. Electric vehicle parking stalls will be provided in both the park maintenance facility parking area, as well as the main parking lot for park users. Additionally, the park site hosts by a bus stop on Yelm Highway. Locating community parks in urban areas close to residences reduces the distance of vehicle trips and protects forest and agriculture resource lands in the County from urban development.
Landscaping at the site will be drought-tolerant and the soccer field will utilize synthetic turf which does not require fertilizer or watering. The existing forest area and wetland located at the southern end of the park site will be preserved thus providing climate and habitat benefits.
Equity Analysis:
The working vision of the Armory is to support the arts as integral to Olympia’s way of life; encourage community growth through creativity and innovation; use the arts to connect people, ideas, and place, while operating from an equity framework. Spaces will be used by several community Anchor partners who have been selected by a criteria that involve consideration of community benefit by being responsive to community needs, with an intentional effort to serve marginalized and underrepresented groups which could include people who identify as Black, Indigenous, People of Color, Immigrants & Refugees, LGBTQI+, People with disabilities, and youth. These partners will be using various offices and shared spaces within the campus to give opportunities for a physical working location that is accessible via a mix of public transportation, walking, biking, and driving.
Parks play an important role in the community as places that are free and open to the public for social connection and gathering, physical and mental health, and preservation and connection with nature. Team sports for both youth and adults support community building. Yelm Highway Community Park has been chosen as a location for a Sounders RAVE Foundation soccer mini-pitch. A mini-pitch allows for small groups of informal pick-up play and the Foundation commits to free ongoing youth programming at the mini-pitch. Thurston County Pickleball Association also offers free weekly pickleball lessons for community members.
Neighborhood/Community Interests (if known):
The Eastside Neighborhood Association (ENA) has a strong interest in the Armory and was an active advocate for the City acquisition of the building and it’s listing on the local Heritage Register. The City of Olympia has designated a Creative District that covers much of Downtown and extends within two blocks of the Armory campus. The district includes some 150 enterprises and is intended to retain, promote, and encourage Olympia’s quirky, vibrant and artistic community. The Armory is considered an asset to the nearby neighborhoods and there is interest in integrating the Armory Creative Campus into the City’s Creative District over time.
The community identified acquisition and development of a large community park site for soccer fields as a high priority in the 2002, 2010, 2016 and 2022 Parks, Arts and Recreation Plans. In the City’s 2014 Community Park Site Suitability Assessment, the Yelm Highway parcel ranked as the preferred site for a new community park.
Over a thousand community members participated in the Yelm Highway Community Park Master Plan process that occurred from 2019-2022. Soccer players, pickleball players and neighbors from The Hamptons and Indian Summer neighborhoods have also shown particular interest in the site.
The YES Olympia Parks Coalition was heavily involved in the formation of the Olympia Metropolitan Park District and members continue to take a strong interest in the parks system
Options:
1. Make a recommendation to the City Council on whether to issue debt for Yelm Highway Community Park Phase I Construction and the Armory Arts Center Phase I Renovations and direct the Chair to write a letter on behalf of the Committee.
2. Do not make a recommendation to the City Council to issue debt for Yelm Highway Community Park Phase I Construction and the Armory Arts Center Phase I Renovations.
3. Take other action.
Financial Impact:
To finance these projects, the City will need to issue approximately $18.5-19,000,000 in debt financing to complete the first phases of construction. The City will use $1,360,000 of dedicated parks funds ($610,000 of Voted Utility Tax and $750,000 of Olympia Metropolitan Park District Funds) to pay the annual debt service. The estimated annual payment is $1,357,858 for 20 years. The payment is an estimate only and will be finalized at time of bond sale.
In 2019, the City issued 20-year bonds to buy park land (LBA Woods, Kaiser Woods, Yelm Highway) that will be fully paid in 2039. The annual debt payment is approximately $1,008,000 and is paid with Voted Utility Tax funds.
The financial impact of adding more debt is that the OMPD and VUT will be fully committed for many years. The Department has seen tremendous growth over the last several years; however, it is simply not sustainable. The addition of new park programs and amenities will need to slow as we focus on opening and maintaining the Yelm Highway Community Park and the Armory Arts Center.
OPARD will continue to pursue grants, and use impact fees and SEPA mitigation fees as the grant match, which will allow smaller development to occur. OPARD will also continue to seek park land acquisition opportunities with monies in the park land acquisition account and the addition of the ½% Non-Voted Utility Tax until it sunsets in 2029.
Attachments:
Armory Project
Yelm Highway Community Park Project
Financing Summary