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At an open house held at Bridge Meadows in Beaverton earlier this month, city officials and designers answered questions about the $35 million Public Safety Center planned at the corner of Southwest Allen Street and Hall Boulevard.

The city’s police and emergency response facilities currently operate in the same building as the Beaverton Municipal Court on Southwest Griffith Drive.聽As far back as 15 years ago, Beaverton officials recognized inherent problems with the building that would drive the need for a new one.聽A sizable earthquake would have disastrous effects on the city, so a protected emergency response facility is considered critical. But the Griffith Drive building isn’t up to those standards.

Also, the existing building has space and logistics issues. They include difficulty moving prisoners in public spaces, witnesses and victims being interviewed in public view, minors being held in separate cells but areas shared with adults, archaic cell doors and other security issues, property and evidence being stored off-site, and outdated report writing areas that could be described as reminiscent of the old 鈥淏arney Miller鈥� squad room.

Police Capt. Eric Oathes is his department’s lead representative for the project.

鈥淭he holding areas are just for detention, a maximum of four hours, but those areas still need to be more efficient and more secure, so that’s part of what we’re including,鈥� he said. 鈥淭eaming up with Emergency Management is important too, because we share a lot of information.

鈥淭he new building will be able to withstand a serious earthquake and still function.聽There will be redundant systems to avoid technical problems, and the facility will be able to generate some of its own power. There’ll be a connection where a water truck can connect to the building and fill an internal 500-gallon tank so that we can continue to function if a serious event happens and we lose power and water.鈥�

The new building will be designed to fit into the new Allen Boulevard District Plan, a revitalization of several blocks in the city, according to Beaverton Police Chief Jim Monger.

鈥淚t’s important that this building fit into the community,鈥� he said. 鈥淲e want this to be a welcoming building, a landmark.鈥�

Anderson Krygier Inc. is providing landscape architecture services for the project. Its plan calls for trees with bioremediation capabilities to offset some of the contaminants remaining on the property from when it was a gas station many years ago.

鈥淕asoline and oil are carbon-based, so it’s actually easier for plants to sequester that excess carbon over time than to remove a lot of dirt and infill,鈥� said Michael Yun, an Anderson Krygier associate principal.

The plan also includes aesthetic appeal and minimal maintenance.

FFA Architecture and Interiors was awarded its contract in August 2017. Designs are about 80 percent complete. The primary issues are interior design and spatial use, foot traffic flow, and access to secure areas that will be determined after receiving extensive input from police personnel. Oathes expects most full-time staffers to offer their ideas. The process should result in completed, finalized plans by late spring, when site preparation is slated to begin.聽Construction is expected to start by December; completion is tentatively scheduled for 2020.

Ian Gelbrich is FFA’s lead architect and Richard Grace is its lead designer for the project.

鈥淏eaverton is a very diverse community; the design theme, both inside and out, will reflect that,鈥� Grace said. 鈥淲e’ll integrate a lot of different textures and materials that work together to create the impression of a diverse community working together. That includes the way we’ll work with light. There will be a lot of natural light that plays on patterns of texture and shadow.鈥�

One of the biggest challenges will be working out a finalized design and building plan that works with the available budget, according to Troy Ainsworth, a principal at FFA.

鈥淐ivic projects have funding set in stone, so we have to look at what the client wants and stay within the scope of the budget to produce that,鈥� he said. 鈥淔unctionality is specific on this project, but it’s also a chance to set a new design standard for public buildings.聽The city wants to bring an advanced concept of function and design that fits with the Allen Boulevard project.鈥�

In the event of a major earthquake, Beaverton could have to contend with loss of electrical power, water and cell phone towers. Bridges and roads in some areas could be severely damaged or even impassable. Officials would need the Public Safety Center to not only survive the quake, but also function afterward. Mike Mumaw, emergency manager for the mayor’s office, sees great potential in the new facility.

鈥淚t will work well with CERT (Community Emergency Response Team),鈥� Mumaw said. 鈥淧olice, fire and ambulance will have their hands full. We currently have about 500 active or reserve members of the program. Their efforts will be coordinated out of this facility, so it’s like an auxiliary or a reserve group of responders.鈥�