Carnation breaks ground on new city campus
Published 12:00 am Friday, May 1, 2026
The city of Carnation broke ground April 28 on its long-awaited new city campus, which will include a city hall, council chambers and administrative offices.
The campus will be located at the corner of State Route 203 and NE 40th Street, at the south end of town. The lot includes the historic Lord house, built in 1911, which will now house the city’s administrative offices.
In front of the house, a new building will be constructed to be resident-facing. It will include customer service, council chambers, the passport office and space that community organizations can reserve for gatherings.
Between the buildings, there will be an accessible community garden with a walking path.
The campus was designed by Hybrid Architecture of Seattle and will be constructed by Optimus Construction and Development out of Burien.
The estimated approximate total cost of the project is $3,360,000. This includes $1.9 million in funding from the Washington State Department of Commerce, as well as $1.5 million secured by Congresswoman Suzan DelBene when she represented Carnation in her district.
According to Mayor Jim Ribail, the city considered many sites for the project and “landed on a fantastic spot” where the city can have all of its services in one location.
“This has been a project that has been on council since I’ve been on council, eight years ago, and even before,” he said at the event. “And there’s absolutely no way that we can do that without our staff that made this happen.”
Ribail gave a shoutout in particular to Director of Public Works and Operations Lora Wilmes.
While modernizing these essential amenities, it was important that the city still kept its history alive by obtaining the Lord house, leaders said.
The site of the Lord house was the first plot developed in the town, in 1902, though the town of Tolt was not formally incorporated until 1912. Across the street from the house, Eugene and Myrtle streets are named after the Lord family children.
“Once this is just gently remodeled in order to have administrative offices, we’re looking to collect some more historic memorabilia to really showcase in this building,” said City Manager Rhonda Ender. “We’re just so happy to be preserving this wonderful piece of history of Carnation.”
To see full documentation for the project, visit carnationwa.gov/carnation-community-campus.
