Silverton Civic Center
This facility received the Public Safety Centers Gold Award in the 2025 Officer Station Design Awards.
Official Project Name: Silverton Civic Center
Project City/State: Silverton, OR
Date Completed: July 22, 2024
Chief/Director: Police Chief Todd Engstrom/Mayor Jason Freilinger
Project Area (sq. ft.): 25,836
Total Cost: $15,566,000
Cost Per Square Foot: $602
Architect/Firm Name: Mackenzie
City/State: Portland, OR
Phone: (503) 729-0306
Website: mackenzie.inc
Design Team: Principal in Charge: Jeff Humphreys; Project Manager: Cathy Bowman; Designer: Monty Hill; Project Architect: Seth Bradshaw; Interior Designer: Alexis Bauer; Civil Engineering: Greg Mino; Traffic Engineering: Brent Ahrend; Landscape Architecture: Steven Tuttle; Mechanical/ Electrical/Plumbing: Interface Engineering; Acoustical Engineering: SSA Acoustics
Project Description
The Silverton Civic Center is home to City Hall, Council Chambers, Court, Emergency Operations Center and the Police Department. A critical resource for the growing community, the facility efficiently consolidates operations and is designed to withstand seismic events and other natural disasters. It is a welcoming gateway to downtown Silverton and a community gathering space with the adjacent park and active farmers market.
The highly collaborative design process included extensive public outreach over the course of design, and as a result, the completed building reflects the diverse and committed voices of the neighborhood and larger community. Community goals for the project included increased operational efficiency, flexibility for the future, a 50-year lifespan, and a police facility that meets state seismic requirements. The design provides an enhanced downtown presence and reflects local culture and history, houses a variety of civic functions, and increases operational efficiency and workplace design for staff. One of the design drivers for the project was derived from community engagement and a city-designated task force that advocated for separate entrances for city hall offices and the police.
The high-performance building was designed with a range of sustainable features, including mass plywood panels for the roof structure that sequester carbon from the environment, photovoltaic panels provide on-site renewable energy and reduce demand on the electrical infrastructure, enhanced thermal insulation, and EV charging stations enhance facility performance and provide for the growing city fleet and citizen electric vehicles. The mass timber components were manufactured locally, and both reflect the community’s connection to nature and support an innovative and growing regional industry. Large stormwater swales reinforce Silverton’s garden city theme while cleaning and detaining rooftop stormwater, and providing a subtle protective barrier in the approach to the building.