Pocatello City Council Approves $203,000 Feasibility Study for Potential City Hall Relocation
POCATELLO — The Pocatello City Council voted Thursday to authorize a preliminary feasibility study examining whether the city’s municipal offices should relocate to the Historic Federal Building in downtown Pocatello, moving the proposal one step closer to a formal decision on the Gate City’s governmental future.
The study contract passed on a 3-2 vote, with council members Hayden Paulsen, Stacy Satterfield, and Ann Swanson voting in favor. Council members Dakota Bates and Brent Nichols cast the dissenting votes. Council President Corey Mangum was absent from the meeting.
The approval follows months of preliminary discussion about the possibility of moving Pocatello’s city hall to the historic federal courthouse at 150 South Arthur Avenue in the heart of downtown. Thursday’s roughly 30-minute debate reflected genuine disagreement among council members about the pace and direction of the process — even as all sides acknowledged the significance of the building itself.
What the Study Will Cover
The Phase 1 study, awarded to architectural firm VCBO, carries a lump-sum cost of $203,000 and is expected to take approximately six months to complete. Planning and Development Director Brent McLane outlined the scope of the work to the council, which includes a structural condition assessment of the historic building, a review of Americans with Disabilities Act compliance requirements, a general site evaluation for long-term suitability, a parking needs analysis, a review of which city departments would relocate and how they would be organized within the new space, preliminary conceptual design work, renovation cost estimates, and public outreach sessions.
McLane expressed personal enthusiasm for the building’s potential while stressing the study’s purpose is to establish whether the move is practically viable. “It is a historic building, and it has the potential to really shine in our downtown,” McLane told the council, adding that the goal of Phase 1 is simply to determine whether the location works and what the full cost of relocation would involve.
Importantly, McLane noted that even if the study returns favorable results, actually purchasing the Federal Building and completing a move would require a separate vote by the City Council — meaning Thursday’s action commits only to gathering information, not to the move itself.
Concerns Over Timing, Parking, and ADA Access
Council member Bates was the most vocal critic of the study authorization, raising concerns that greenlighting the process makes it harder to reverse course later. “The further down a road you go, the harder it is to turn back,” Bates said, acknowledging that the action was a study but cautioning it would make future opposition more difficult.
Bates said he visited the Federal Building the day before the vote and observed what he described as obvious concerns about ADA compliance and parking access — challenges he believed deserved more scrutiny before the city committed study dollars. He also questioned whether the location truly serves the public well, noting that making it easy for residents to reach city hall each day is as important as the economic benefits of placing 100 municipal employees in the downtown core.
McLane pushed back, arguing that ADA challenges in historic buildings are common and solvable. “Historic buildings are used all over the United States,” he said, calling ADA upgrades “a hurdle that can be overcome fairly easily.”
Parking emerged as the most consistent public concern. Mayor Roger Dahlquist acknowledged the issue directly, noting that current city hall employs 89 workers while the Federal Building’s rear parking lot holds only 60 vehicles. The mayor said the city is exploring potentially leasable lots in the surrounding area, but conceded that parking solutions would need to be part of any viable relocation plan. Dahlquist noted his office had fielded multiple calls from residents that day, all focused on the parking question.
Council member Swanson reminded audience members that the agenda item was not a formal public hearing, but encouraged residents to contact the City Council and mayor’s office by email to share their views.
Council member Paulsen, who made the motion to approve the study contract, said he shared some of Bates’ concerns but argued that the study itself is the appropriate tool for answering those questions. Determining ADA requirements and renovation costs, he indicated, is precisely what a feasibility study is designed to do.
What Comes Next
With the study contract now authorized, VCBO is expected to begin Phase 1 work, with results anticipated within roughly six months. The findings will then return to the City Council for review before any decision is made on whether to proceed with an actual purchase and relocation. Residents seeking to weigh in before that point are encouraged to contact their council representatives directly. For broader coverage of Pocatello local government and Idaho statewide news, visit Idaho News.