Next week city employees will begin moving their offices to new temporary locations on Broadway and Church streets as the 50-year-old brutalist Salem Civic Center gets its long awaited seismic retrofit. 

Many services including the Salem Municipal Court, customer service center, permit application center as well as the mayor and city manager’s office will be temporarily housed elsewhere as the $39.4 million retrofit project begins.

The retrofit is paid for by the 2022 voter-approved infrastructure bond and is expected to be done by February 2027. 

It will take a couple weeks for the moving process to be completed. Some city services will remain at the civic center until later in June, the city said in a release last week. 

Two temporary spaces, one on the fourth and fifth floors at the SAIF Parkway building at 440 Church Street S.E., and the other at 850 Broadway Street N.E. were selected to maximize efficiency and to ensure public-facing services remain accessible. 

Here’s where people can go for city services.

• Salem Municipal Court: Remaining at Salem Civic Center until July 11. Starting July 14 the court will be housed at the Broadway Street location with parking available on the surface lot accessed from the driveway off of Northeast Broadway Street, north of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Parkway. 
• Compliance services: Compliance services will be temporarily relocated to 350 Commercial Street N.E. where it will share an office with Community Planning and Development. 
• Customer service center: Remaining at Salem Civic Center until July 11. Starting July 14 it will be split up and operate between the two temporary spaces on Church and Broadway streets. 
• Mayor and City Manager’s office: Will be housed in the SAIF building on Church Street beginning June 9. 
• Finance department: Will be housed in the SAIF building on Church Street beginning June 9. 
• City recorder: Will be housed in the SAIF building on Church Street beginning June 9. 
• Permit application center: Starting June 16 will be housed in the SAIF building on Church Street.
• Salem City Council: Starting June 9 council meetings and work sessions will be held at Loucks Auditorium at the Salem Public Library, 585 Liberty St. SE. 

“Tonight is the last meeting in council chambers for the foreseeable future,” Salem Mayor Julie Hoy said during a May 28 budget committee meeting. “As part of the renovation, the city council chambers will also be reimagined. The new design reflects a thoughtful shift. The mayor and all councilors will be seated at the same level. Reinforcing values of unity, equity and collaboration that define our approach to public service.” 

Salem city councilors approved two leases for the temporary spaces earlier this year. The city’s budget for the move is about $2.3 million which pays for the two leases, the logistics of moving employees to new workspaces, and getting the spaces set up with the proper technology and equipment. 

More information on the civic center seismic retrofit project can be found on the city’s website here. 

Contact reporter Joe Siess: [email protected] or 503-335-7790.

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Joe Siess

Joe Siess is a reporter for Salem Reporter. Joe joined Salem Reporter in 2024 and primarily covers city and county government but loves surprises. Joe previously reported for the Redmond Spokesman, the Bulletin in Bend, Klamath Falls Herald and News and the Malheur Enterprise. He was born in Independence, MO, where the Oregon Trail officially starts, and grew up in the Kansas City area.