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The Board of Mayor and Aldermen passed a resolution to review a feasibility study of the city’s Municipal Building, which was done around 2018, in their first March meeting.

According to a memo from Mayor Ray Knowis, “Since this report was received, the City Hall building has continued to show signs of deterioration and concerns with proper ventilation, sewer lines, and other issues. The future longevity of this building should be researched to determine the next steps in addressing the needs of the building, its employees, and the residents of the City.”

The memo further details intentions of the city to consider renovation to the current building or the possibility of building a new one.

“Additionally, the study is to provide data, research, and a study on the potential building of a new City Hall structure and the current value of the property at 201 West Grundy St.,” stated the memo.

City Administrator Jason Quick was asked to give background on the request for Knowis.

Quick said that back around 2018 or 2019, a company was requested to do an assessment of the building by the BoMA to get a full understanding of the issues a building as old as the municipal building might have.

“They came up with quite a few recommendations for us to consider,” said Quick. “They categorized them as immediate, near future and future.”

“The estimated costs at that time were about $1.3 million,” said Quick.

Quick said out of the items requested, the city has currently only added an HVAC unit on the first floor. He added after meeting with Knowis and Public Works Director Butch Taylor, they determined that the building is at a point where something must be done.

“Basically, there’s two ways to do that. One is a total renovation of this building, which is desperately needed, or we need to figure out what we’re going to do about the possibility of a new city hall–when that will come up,” he said. He explained that was why they were hoping to have another company come in and review the previous study to help determine what the next step should be, as well as giving them an understanding about property value.

Alderman Daniel Berry made the motion, Alderman Derick Mann seconded, and the motion passed unanimously.