Courthouse Square plan snags tax proposal
Published: Monday, July 21, 2008 at 3:41 a.m.
Last Modified: Monday, July 21, 2008 at 9:57 a.m.
Santa Rosa leaders have touted the reunification of Old Courthouse Square as the cornerstone of plans to create a bustling and prosperous downtown.
Voters apparently have a different view, one that could prove the death knell for a proposed quarter-cent sales tax that the City Council is considering for the November ballot.
In a city-commissioned poll, 75 percent of 400 voters surveyed identified the Old Courthouse Square project as the No. 2 obstacle to securing their “yes” vote.
The project ranked just behind enacting a tax in a poor economic time as a reason to oppose the tax.
The poll presented the question as a statement from “people who oppose the ballot measure.” It asked if respondents would oppose a tax because “city government has demonstrated poor financial decision-making by spending millions of dollars on the controversial Courthouse Square project.”
The majority said they found that statement “very” or “somewhat” convincing.
Santa Rosa Main Street’s executive director Chris Messina, whose organization strongly endorses the square’s reunification, felt the question unfairly predisposed what the answer would be.
“The way the question was asked, no one would say no, including me,” Messina said.
The poll results, however, weren’t the only bad news for supporters of the plan to turn the square into a park and performance space without a busy street cutting through the middle.
Originally estimated to cost $7.5 million, the reunification project has nearly doubled to $13 million, Councilwoman Jane Bender said.
The parameters of the original design competition called for results to stay within that $7.5 million budget.
Price checks on what various teams proposed were double-checked by estimators as the competition continued to insure contestants competed on a level playing field.
Planning Commission chairman Scott Bartley, an architect who helped the council choose SWA Group of Sausalito from 22 teams that competed for the right to redesign the square, is not surprised since the original design was in concept only.
As a detailed design moves ahead, costs become more definitive and often go up, he said. “It happens all the time; it’s not unusual.”
Despite its negative poll results and increased cost estimate, some council members doubt the reunification project will be sacrificed.
Bender and Councilwoman Susan Gorin noted the council has promised to go forward with the project, using private funds and state and federal grants only.
Except for initial money for design, the council has pledged that no money earmarked to run the city will be used.
“It may be delayed, but it won’t be sacrificed,” said Bender, who noted it’s likely the project will be built in phases as outside sources of money become available.
Bartley agreed that sacrificing the project to please voters “would be incredibly stupid.”
“We need to kick the downtown in the derriere,” he said, citing the project’s bold design that officials, business leaders and a national team of architects who visited the city last week believe will create a vibrant, 24-hour downtown.
To cope with the higher costs, Bartley said the project will be built in phases.
The first phase will include the main features of the reunified 1.5-acre square — the reintroduction of Hinton and Exchange streets at the square’s east and west ends, closure of Mendocino Avenue through the middle of the square and construction of the park’s two most prominent features, a light arbor and water wall.
Other features, including restrooms, entertainment venues and a cafe will be built in following phases, he said.
You can reach Staff Writer Mike McCoy at 521-5276 or mike.mccoy@pressdemocrat.com
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