As Sammamish Considers a Community Center on the Kellman Site, Experts Talk About the Land

The city of Sammamish is considering the 9.35-acre  as the site of a community aquatics center - should residents and the City Council approve one.

The process continues Monday evening with a public meeting at City Hall, involving architects, city staff, residents - and more updated information.  

While the overall project cost, amenities and financing still need to be determined, one advantage the Kellman property has over the is the city’s experience of having already undertaken development at  - most recently with the . 

Several people who were involved with that project believe this prior experience gives the city a better understanding of some issues that might crop up during the community center’s development - should it be built.

“We’ve gotten to know the site reasonably well,” said Kamuron Gurol, director of community development for the city of Sammamish.

Gurol, who worked with the lead architect on the Sammamish Library project, added that even with experience the unexpected could still happen. “There are always some surprises,” he said.

He described the land where the library sits as being glacial till clay - and researchers have pointed out that the Plateau was created over millions of years.

Ryan Bussard, the , said that one issue that had to be dealt with during the development of the library, which opened in 2010, was drainage. Bussard described the soil at the library site as “fairly impervious” and believes that similar conditions might exist at the proposed community center site.

“There are some challenges that may appear there,” said Bussard, who works for Perkins+Will.

Greg Smith, King County Library System director of facilities management services, echoed that thought about the land. “The soils were wetter than usual,” Smith said, as he recalled the construction work.

But he described it as nothing out of the ordinary. The wet soil, he said, prompted crews to bring in material that could be compacted on the site.

“You have to meet the engineers’ criteria for constructability,” he said.

The soil issue also could have stemmed, at least in part, from material that was moved from the City Hall site to the area where library now sits. City Hall opened in 2006.

Bussard said that the library site was able to contend with these drainage issues through the use of a stout storm system. He also said that the library project came in under budget.

Another issue that had to be confronted during the development of the library was traffic and access. “That was something we did lots of studies to understand,” Bussard said.

The city is aware that building a massive community center at Sammamish Commons will put an increased burden on 228th Avenue Southeast and is looking at ways to improve traffic flow.

The city is considering building two roundabouts on 228th Avenue Southeast, one at Southeast 8th Street and a second at Southeast 10th Street.

“I think the roundabouts are a really interesting technique,” Gurol said.

Regardless of the soil conditions or traffic concerns, both Bussard and Gurol think the city-owned Kellman property is an excellent site for the community center. 

Bussard said that linking the community center to City Hall and the library will help to create a vibrant area. “It would strengthen the civic core,” Bussard said.

Bussard also believes that placing the community center at the Kellman site will enable the facility to take advantage of the same views and natural surroundings he embraced in his library design.

Gurol is hopeful for the project and the sense of community that a well-developed city center can engender. “Public money spent wisely is a great thing for everybody,” he said.