The capstone of those efforts opens Friday: a five-story City Hall that overlooks the park and the new buildings surrounding it.

The complex is the largest public building project in Puyallup’s history, completed at a cost of about $40 million. That’s more than double the combined cost of the other buildings, which totaled about $15 million.

“It really is the final piece of the downtown city complex,” said Councilman Mike Deal, who was mayor when construction began in late 2006. “It’s going to hopefully be the impetus for similar types of construction downtown.”

At 53,000 square feet, the building has room for departments that were previously spread throughout the city.

But Puyallup officials are aiming for the City Hall complex to add much more than offices to Puyallup’s downtown.

The ground floor is reserved for retail stores, the first of which City Manager Gary McLean said he hopes will move in by the end of this year.

Additionally, City Hall is surrounded by a public courtyard and plaza, filled with plants and benches.

“It’s really an extension of Pioneer Park,” McLean said. “This is a real town square.”

The building is on the site of the former Puyallup Opera House, which was used as City Hall for 30 years before an earthquake damaged it in 1949.

Councilwoman Kathy Turner said the additions over the last six years restore the vision Puyallup planners had at the turn of the 20th century: a town built around Pioneer Park.

“It was a dream that started back in the 1900s and it will be a dream that serves our future generations for years to come,” Turner said.

About 80 city employees moved in earlier this week, some from as far away as South Hill, where the city’s building and planning divisions were located. Other city offices, such as the legal department and clerk’s office, occupied a renovated apartment building on Third Street Southwest, which the city plans to demolish.

The Puyallup City Council will hold its meetings on the new building’s top floor – an upgrade from the former council chambers, which sat next to the Burlington Northern Santa Fe rail line.

Council sessions there were interrupted about twice per meeting by the roar of trains, causing elected leaders and staff to stop speaking midsentence until the noise passed.

“I’m going to miss that, but I may be in the minority there,” Deal said.

Mayor Don Malloy said bringing the offices together will provide better access to city services, improving the connection between officials and the community.

“Now we’re going to have a one-stop shopping center for people who want to do business in Puyallup,” Malloy said. “It will be great convenience for our citizens.”

The push to build a downtown center isn’t unique to Puyallup.

The City of Edgewood is nearing completion on its $7.2 million civic complex, and University Place has been trying for five years to snare a developer for its mixed-use Town Center proposal.

In 2002, Lakewood opened its Towne Center outdoor shopping mall, which included a $13.2 million City Hall as its focal point.

Some Lakewood citizens criticized the extravagance and cost of the three-story building, dubbing it the “Taj Mahal.”

In Puyallup this year, two new council members ran on platforms criticizing Puyallup’s City Hall project, objecting to its cost and imposing height. John Knutsen and Rick Hansen said they thought the city’s money could be better spent elsewhere.

McLean said Puyallup decided to build a five-story structure to give the city and its government room to grow. A few thousand square feet have been set aside as “shell space,” to be finished and filled later as needed.

“It’s far cheaper than adding a floor tomorrow,” he said.

Until then, the city will probably lease the extra rooms as office or retail space, he said.

Hansen said Wednesday that now that City Hall is complete, he hopes the city will make good use of it.

“It’s built,” he said. “Let’s just put as many people in there as possible and make it efficient.”

City spokeswoman Glenda Carino said the beauty of Puyallup’s recent building program is that it doesn’t create a central gathering place from scratch.

“A lot of cities want to try to build a downtown,” she said. “We already have one.”

Melissa Santos: 253-552-7058

WHAT: Puyallup City Hall opening

WHERE: 333 S. Meridian

DAY: Friday

TIME: City officials will dedicate the new building at noon, then invite residents to pose for a town portrait at 12:30 p.m. Bands will play across the street at Pioneer Park from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. A celebratory toast will take place in the City Hall plaza about 8 p.m.