Livonia Aims to Transform Civic Center Campus
Over the next seven to ten years, the Civic Center campus in Livonia is lined up for a major revamp. This 27-acre space is found at the intersection of Five Mile and Farmington roads, and is one of the main features of the city’s 2021 master plan.
The grand design is to transform the Civic Center campus into a thriving downtown. However, a significant process needs to happen first. Key city services including the Livonia Senior Center, the City Hall, an old courthouse, and the city’s Police Department will need to be gradually torn down and relocated for the plan to move forward.
The city’s mayor, who has championed the concept of creating a “downtown Livonia,” shared her plans to start moving City Hall within the coming year. The capital is eyeing creating a district having the authentic ambiance of a downtown, driven by citizens’ expectations ,” she added.
The Road to a Redesigned Civic Center
When designing the new city’s developing district, the city’s leadership has expressed its commitment to avoid raising taxes. As a first step towards this ambitious plan, city council members approved on July 15 a $42 million bond to bankroll a new City Hall, operating like a loan. The mayor is optimistic that the fresh facility will operate below that budget, and the city intends to utilize approximately $2.4 million from retiree healthcare plans savings to repay this bond. This approach will deter any need to raise taxes.
Another development in the pipeline involves utilizing around 10 acres of space at Five Mile and Farmington to usher more housing and commercial factions. Though there has been a shift of the City Hall and police department within the Civic Center, the initiative points at maintaining the library’s proximity to these services. As for the Fire Department on the campus, it is planned to be updated and retain its current location and the four other stations throughout the city.
A Different Looking City Hall
The design of the proposed new City Hall is expected to be smaller and more accessible than the current one, with modern security installations taking a front seat. “We aim to be more accessible by creating space that can be easily modified and adaptable. We are currently limited with inflexible spaces like our auditorium. We want facilities that are more multi-functional,” the mayor said.
Aside from catering to economic benefits, the mayor highlighted that a newer building would ensure steadier and more reliable operations for city staff. The existing City Hall, built back in the late 1970s, has been identified by a capital needs assessment to require nearly $30 million in functional improvements or repairs over the next nine years. The Town’s Mayor cited, “It turns out it is more cost-effective to construct a new building than to keep patching up the old one.”
