It’s not a direction that satisfied Mayor Al Cathey.
With a location cemented for the new City Hall, the City Council last week discussed options for construction, favoring a structure similar to the one that replaced the police station last year.
Although plans for a brick and mortar building were commissioned two years ago, construction costs were high due to a stylized roof and council members Mary Blackburn, Tanya Castro and Jeff Tendler said the blueprints contained much “wasted space.”
Those same council members agreed scaling down the existing plans would allow them to save some of the $600,000 in insurance money from the historic Parker House fire, allowing the council to spend it elsewhere. City administrator Mell Smigielski said the scale down process had already begun.
“We have a floor plan that we, at least on the staff level, like,” Smigielski said.
Tendler told council members that a hand-built structure could be one to two years to complete and made a case for purchasing a modular unit that could be functional within a matter of months. Using numbers from the building vendor who supplied the police department modular, Tendler said a 3,000 square foot building could cost the city as little as $246,000.
“I support going with a modular building,” Tendler said. “We can simplify the design to save costs on square footage and move forward.”
But Mayor Cathey, who voted against the
“I realize I’m in the minority with how I feel about City Hall,” Cathey said. “After two and half years and all the money spent, it seems odd we’d be willing to throw money away. I guess my vision for City Hall isn’t a modular building. The structure of the building should be important to the town. It should have some longevity.”
The council would continue discussion at a future meeting.
Costs for a metal building with a façade were estimated at $103 per square foot and $110 for a modular unit.