Planning | City Facilities & Parks

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Municipal Building c.1963

THE NEED

Expanded park spaces, new community places, and safety services for the 21st century.

Since 2000, Grandview Heights has seen substantial growth and change, similar to the City's earliest days of rapid growth in the early 1900s. Both then and now, physical and financial planning has been critical to maintaining and improving the quality of life here in Grandview Heights.

Even as the City was struggling through economic distress from the bankruptcy of Big Bear (then the City's largest employer), the community invested in the 2007 Parks Master Plan, laying the groundwork for improvements to the majority of our parks and recreational facilities as well as identifying a need to add more park space. A little more than a decade later, with much of that work completed, the City launched a new community planning process. The 2019 Community Plan, along with targeted planning of the special "Spaces and Places" around Grandview Heights, established priorities for continued investment in our community.

Completed in 2019 with substantial community involvement, these plans identify an urgent need to invest in a modern Fire/EMS, Police, and Administrative Services facility. The Spaces and Places plan also identified the site at the southeast corner of Goodale Boulevard and Grandview Avenue as the preferred location for such a facility.


THE STUDY

Responding to this identified need, the City commenced site studies, fit planning studies, and feasibility evaluations in late 2020 for a new combined facility.

A core team from the City - comprised of the Mayor and other administrative leadership, City Council representatives, the Fire/EMS Chief and the Police Chief - worked with planning consultant team Erdy McHenry and Mull & Weithman (EM/MW) for several months to define parameters for the new building.

As part of this process, the group toured many other regional safety services and city administrative facilities, as well as collaborating to develop required programmatic needs and project outcome goals.

The EM/MW team studied numerous possible site plan and internal space planning strategies, as well as investigating comprehensive technical and engineering requirements.

Finally, the team carefully evaluated impacts to other city facilities and lands, and developed pricing and implementation phasing options.


Study findings to date included the following:

  • That there are no major sub-surface issues.
  • That a modern facility can fit and function well.
  • That traffic at the intersection of Goodale & Grandview Ave will not be excessively impacted, and can be managed with signal prioritization.
  • That emergency vehicles should exit onto Glendale, and then proceed as needed.
  • That the Grandview Center will need to be relocated, to preserve and prioritize Parks & Recreation programming.
  • That there is an opportunity to complete one of the last components of the 2007 Parks Master Plan, by relocating the Grandview Center to McKinley Field, at the location of the still unimproved McKinley Shelter. This separate project will be designed through a community process.
  • That once the new Fire/EMS, Police, and Administrative Services facility is relocated, the "top of the hill" site on Grandview Avenue should be returned to the community for use as parkland, contiguous to Wyman Woods Park. Future plans for this site will be decided with the community through a future Parks Master Planning process.
  • That market conditions and post-COVID financial uncertainties will necessitate Value Engineering, to identify the most cost-effective yet well-planned project possible.
  • That execution of this plan will require financial support from the community, in addition to cash that has been being saved by the City to support capital investment needs.


THE OPPORTUNITY

In 1922, City leaders created Wyman Woods Park, and began the process of considering the City's first Municipal Building. Funded by the community in 1923, by August of 1924, the City's first Firehouse was completed. Additions were then added in the 1930s and 1960s.

In 2022, preliminary planning again has established the need and opportunity to invest in cherished community assets. While the planning process is ongoing, it has established a recommended direction and related implementation phasing, as follows:


PHASE ONE
Construct a new Grandview Center

on the site of the current McKinley Shelter.


PHASE TWO
Construct a new Fire/EMS, Police, and Administrative Services Facility

at the southeast corner of Goodale Boulevard & Grandview Avenue.


PHASE THREE
Expand Wyman Woods Park to include the "top of the hill" site,

where the current Municipal Building sits today.




STUDY FINDINGS

The planning team has made the following final recommendations, at the investment levels noted below.




THE TIMELINE

Pending support from the community, the following preliminary implementation timeline has been developed.



Additional information will be provided over the coming weeks and months. Please check back often for updates!



THE NEED

Expanded park spaces, new community places, and safety services for the 21st century.

Since 2000, Grandview Heights has seen substantial growth and change, similar to the City's earliest days of rapid growth in the early 1900s. Both then and now, physical and financial planning has been critical to maintaining and improving the quality of life here in Grandview Heights.

Even as the City was struggling through economic distress from the bankruptcy of Big Bear (then the City's largest employer), the community invested in the 2007 Parks Master Plan, laying the groundwork for improvements to the majority of our parks and recreational facilities as well as identifying a need to add more park space. A little more than a decade later, with much of that work completed, the City launched a new community planning process. The 2019 Community Plan, along with targeted planning of the special "Spaces and Places" around Grandview Heights, established priorities for continued investment in our community.

Completed in 2019 with substantial community involvement, these plans identify an urgent need to invest in a modern Fire/EMS, Police, and Administrative Services facility. The Spaces and Places plan also identified the site at the southeast corner of Goodale Boulevard and Grandview Avenue as the preferred location for such a facility.


THE STUDY

Responding to this identified need, the City commenced site studies, fit planning studies, and feasibility evaluations in late 2020 for a new combined facility.

A core team from the City - comprised of the Mayor and other administrative leadership, City Council representatives, the Fire/EMS Chief and the Police Chief - worked with planning consultant team Erdy McHenry and Mull & Weithman (EM/MW) for several months to define parameters for the new building.

As part of this process, the group toured many other regional safety services and city administrative facilities, as well as collaborating to develop required programmatic needs and project outcome goals.

The EM/MW team studied numerous possible site plan and internal space planning strategies, as well as investigating comprehensive technical and engineering requirements.

Finally, the team carefully evaluated impacts to other city facilities and lands, and developed pricing and implementation phasing options.


Study findings to date included the following:

  • That there are no major sub-surface issues.
  • That a modern facility can fit and function well.
  • That traffic at the intersection of Goodale & Grandview Ave will not be excessively impacted, and can be managed with signal prioritization.
  • That emergency vehicles should exit onto Glendale, and then proceed as needed.
  • That the Grandview Center will need to be relocated, to preserve and prioritize Parks & Recreation programming.
  • That there is an opportunity to complete one of the last components of the 2007 Parks Master Plan, by relocating the Grandview Center to McKinley Field, at the location of the still unimproved McKinley Shelter. This separate project will be designed through a community process.
  • That once the new Fire/EMS, Police, and Administrative Services facility is relocated, the "top of the hill" site on Grandview Avenue should be returned to the community for use as parkland, contiguous to Wyman Woods Park. Future plans for this site will be decided with the community through a future Parks Master Planning process.
  • That market conditions and post-COVID financial uncertainties will necessitate Value Engineering, to identify the most cost-effective yet well-planned project possible.
  • That execution of this plan will require financial support from the community, in addition to cash that has been being saved by the City to support capital investment needs.


THE OPPORTUNITY

In 1922, City leaders created Wyman Woods Park, and began the process of considering the City's first Municipal Building. Funded by the community in 1923, by August of 1924, the City's first Firehouse was completed. Additions were then added in the 1930s and 1960s.

In 2022, preliminary planning again has established the need and opportunity to invest in cherished community assets. While the planning process is ongoing, it has established a recommended direction and related implementation phasing, as follows:


PHASE ONE
Construct a new Grandview Center

on the site of the current McKinley Shelter.


PHASE TWO
Construct a new Fire/EMS, Police, and Administrative Services Facility

at the southeast corner of Goodale Boulevard & Grandview Avenue.


PHASE THREE
Expand Wyman Woods Park to include the "top of the hill" site,

where the current Municipal Building sits today.




STUDY FINDINGS

The planning team has made the following final recommendations, at the investment levels noted below.




THE TIMELINE

Pending support from the community, the following preliminary implementation timeline has been developed.



Additional information will be provided over the coming weeks and months. Please check back often for updates!



Page last updated: 08 Mar 2023, 11:19 AM