Tumwater officials in Washington are moving ahead with plans for a new, all-electric Operations & Maintenance (O&M) facility, tied to a neighborhood park and intersection upgrades. City leaders say the project is essential to meet the demands of a growing city and aging infrastructure.
Tumwater’s population has been steadily increasing. Estimates place the city at about 27,680 residents in 2025, up more than 2,000 over the past five years. A 2024 Tumwater agency evaluation by Emergency Services Consulting International projects the population will reach 37,381 by 2045.
As the city evolves, so do its needs, and the existing public works and maintenance facilities are no longer sufficient. The buildings were not designed for modern demands. As far back as 2010, city officials proposed relocating the Public Works O&M facility to manage future growth. After acquiring the Bush Prairie (Trails End) property in 2014, officials recognized that a neighborhood park should accompany the new facility.
By 2016, Tumwater contracted TCF Architecture to draft a master plan. Their assessment found that the old structures were obsolete and of little value. For safety and efficiency, the city opted to demolish all buildings and commit to an all-electric campus.
The site on 79th Avenue and Trails End Street in Bush Prairie will house the operations and maintenance crews, administrative staff from the Transportation & Engineering Department, Water Resources and the Sustainability Department—a consolidation that had originally been planned but was not expected for many more years.
The facility will span approximately 24,400 square feet, with specialized spaces for maintenance, fleet, storage and offices. The campus plan encompasses more than just office and maintenance space. The O&M portion will consist of seven buildings with shops, storage bays, staging areas, parking, access roads, landscaping and a rain garden.
Much of the land east of Trails End Drive is reserved for Trails End Park, which is slated to offer a paved walking trail, open lawn, recreation courts and picnic areas, restrooms and passive green space.
To accommodate industrial traffic reaching the site, a roundabout is planned at the intersection of Old Highway 99 and 79th Avenue SE, complete with stormwater infrastructure. All these components are covered under a joint Habitat Conservation Plan, which notes the project site is 26.2 acres total in size.
With an additional $8.4 million put toward extra space for integrated crews, the project is now estimated to cost $40 million in total. The facility, neighborhood park and roundabout are all expected to be completed simultaneously with sufficient funds acquired.
Tumwater’s finance director said the city will pay for the projects through either a 20-year bond with estimated $3 million annual payments or a 30-year bond with estimated $2.5 million payments. The city’s general government and utility funds will pay for future bond payments.
If all goes according to plan and permits are secured, the facility, neighborhood park and roundabout would open in close succession. The project marks one of the largest capital undertakings in Tumwater’s infrastructure portfolio, and its success will hinge on meeting design, environmental, schedule and funding benchmarks already set by the city.
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