LYNN HAVEN — Lynn Haven maintenance staff steadily worked to cover the north-facing wall of a former church with plywood and other materials; eventually it will be smoked glass.
In another life, it is where the stained glass went, with a crucifix in front.
City Manager Joel Schubert is reincarnating that building at 108 E. Ninth St. as the new Lynn Haven Commission meeting room and is hoping the renovations will be finished — including fresh carpeting and three large computer screens — by the second meeting in March.
Part of the design is a rollaway platform for the five commissioners and movable seating for 120 audience members, clearing the floor and a stage area for a multipurpose room. Weddings, conferences and maybe a play or two could possibly produce some income for the city in rental fees. The renovations for the building the city has owned for about 10 years cost about $45,000.
“We’ve taken care of what we already have repaired or renovated,” Schubert said. “It has so many benefits.”
The new meeting room is just one domino in a chain of events to give the city offices of Lynn Haven a makeover. The current commission room in City Hall, which can fit 80 people in cramped style, will be used to expand the front office space, making it easier for fewer clerks to handle utility billing and other duties. The front office staff already has been downsized through attrition, Schubert said.
With the goal of consolidating city operations under one roof, Schubert has moved building officials to the second floor of City Hall, at the corner of Ohio Avenue and Ninth Street. They previously held an office next to the senior center; Schubert wants that space as a community meeting room.
The second floor recently has been renovated at a cost of about $20,000. Joining them in City Hall will be Planning Director Amanda Richard and Community Redevelopment Agency Director Ben Janke, who are currently operating in a city-owned house just south of the senior center.
It would be possible to take care of a development order, CRA redevelopment and permit applications and pay a water bill without venturing outside in the rain.
The house where Richard and Janke were working could be sold, although it has leaks and poor insulation. Schubert said that decision would be up to the commission.
Schubert is hoping the pending sale of two vacant pieces of city property — one commercial lot off State 77 and a residential lot at the corner of Fourth Street and Tennessee Avenue — will pay for any additional improvements to city property.
“And that could be a new business in town that adds jobs,” Schubert said.