The City of Renton is close to hiring an architect to design the new features and amenities of the reimagined Renton Pavilion Event Center.

During the Aug. 14 Renton City Council meeting, the council referred a contract proposal to the Finance Committee. If passed, the contract would pay Graham Baba Architects an additional $745,117 for “full design services for the Pavilion Project,” totalling more than $861,000.

According to the city, $100,000 of that amount will come from federal grant funding.

Located in the heart of Renton’s downtown core, the pavilion is a former automobile dealership facility that was re-purposed and updated to be an event space in 2004.

The city has been planning for a redesign of the Pavilion Event Center, with the intent to include infrastructure in the building to allow for a public market, cafe and restaurant facility. According to the city, this redesign would include provisions for restaurant spaces, small stall market areas as an incubator for business startups, as well a small cafe, restrooms, storage and waste disposal areas.

According to a presentation from city staff during the Aug. 14 Committee of the Whole meeting, Graham Baba Architects was selected due to “extensive experience with similar projects throughout the region such as the Melrose and Pybus Market.”

“This proposal includes architectural design, permitting and construction documents, bidding assistance and construction administration services as outlined below for the existing approx. 14,770 square foot Renton Pavilion building, to transform the existing interior space into a public market,” read a proposal document from the architecture firm.

According to the proposal documents, the total cost of construction budget for the project is expected to be $7,139,002. All work of design and construction is anticipated to be complete by Dec. 31, 2025.