According to City Administrator Eileen Stein, the idea has been floated in recent weeks that City Hall, school district administrative offices and a new library could all be located at the site of the current Sisters Middle School -- if the Deschutes Public Library District decides to site its new library there.

That's a big if; the library district has not announced its preferred site for a new Sisters Library to be in operation in 2004.

According to Stein, the workshop is simply an effort to brief councilors and "see if there's any interest in seriously considering this as a possibility."

The city has considered relocating city hall to several locations over the years, including to the Multnomah Publishers offices when that company builds its own campus.

The public facilities campus would allow the city to design a purposely built city hall to serve in the coming decades, but costs would likely be higher than a remodel, according to Stein.

The school district plans to sell the middle school property when students move into the existing high school next fall. The middle school site is currently zoned for Public Facility use, which limits the school district's sale options.