I'll play around the the diagonal idea this weekend. I just did some quick trigonometry and that solution might work (unless I have overlooked something). If someone wants to check my math: The two walls leading into the corner are 60" long each. I'm working with a 30" range (which is about 28" deep). As Pythagoras would have it, my stove and the triangular corners leading up to the stove (as well as the wasted space in the back) would take up 33.82" of the wall space on each side of the corner. I'll round that to 34" for good measure. This would leave me 26" on either side to work with. That sounds like alot! I was expecting less. Does anybody see any glaringly obvious errors?

This is a long and positive thread trying to help the OP as much as possible. The OP really needs some experienced and expert local help. There is so much that needs to be explored and evaluated, starting with the basic concept of the cost of having a basement, which, by definition, will not likely be accessible to a child with limited mobility and special needs. As helpful as everyone wants to be on this forum, no one is going to be able to work out a good concept and design, except for a direct, on-site presence with the OP and family. As a former Head of a school of architecture and tenured full professor, I have to say that contacting a university school of architecture is probably not a very good strategy, unless that school has an organized, staffed and functioning community outreach and assistance program. Some universities do; many do not. Most faculty members plan their course-work a semester or year ahead, and focus on teaching a number of cumulative design principles to the students, year by year. As important as this project is, it probably doesn't fit well into an architectural curriculum, unless there is an active community outreach program, as I've mentioned. It's possible, that the nearest local chapter of The American Institute of Architects might sponsor a charette or even a pro bono program of support if contacted with details about the situation. My heart aches that so much help is needed here.

These are all excellent questions. I agree that this will be a complicated process but since the town is so small there are fewer competing interests to contend with. Knowing how our town has operated in the past I suspect that the decision making process will be fairly streamlined compared with a much larger city. I do agree that finding someone who can help us make sense of the latest codes is crucial. One of the many problems with the current city hall is that it isn't ADA compliant and making it so would be extremely difficult. As for land, we have a large amount of empty land behind the current city hall. The hope is that we can build on that land and relocate the DPS vehicles currently parked there but we won't know if that's feasible until we hire an architect and engineer. If we do have to relocate we will unfortunately have to operate outside of the city. Figuring out whether the land we have will work for the new city hall will have to be one of the first steps. If it's won't we'll have to develop a plan B and figure out what that is. As for annexation, I used to be quite concerned about that but I'm much less concerned about that with our new mayor and aldermen. They are making much smarter and forward thinking decisions than the previous group were making. Before we allowed ourselves to be taken over by the big city I could see us pursuing the merger of our city with a similar city right next door to us. We have wealthier residents than they do but they have a much stronger commercial tax base. They're also more suburban than we are. Despite those differences it would still be a better choice than merging with the larger city. I can start with the local AIA office but I'm not totally sure what to ask. When I started interviewing builders and architects for the house we hope to build (we can't seem to sell our current house) I felt well prepared for the interviews. I had a general design brief to present and a well research 2 page list of questions to ask. The list was so thorough that some I interviewed asked for copies of it. This time I feel completely at sea. Does anyone have advice regarding what I should ask? I have a few ideas but I feel like I've just scratched the surface. Are there any specific credentials I should look for?

It cannot be called a bedroom if it does not have an egress window to the outside. And why would someone want to use a room where a solid wall is 3’ from the window? Check if there is a requirement for distance outside the window in your community. The space is supposed to allow for a firefighter in full gear to get in or out through the window of a bedroom.