After years of planning, Kent City officials said the new city hall will open this summer.
Previously, Kent never had a building for official duties, said Melanie Baker, the public service director for the city. Before the new building, the services of the city council, finance, law, city manager, human resources and civil service departments had to share offices within other municipal buildings. Now, they will all be under one roof, providing easy public access, Baker said.
The planning process for the new city hall first began in 2014, after the council did an extensive review process looking into the administration’s needs. The review included surveys, public meetings and even festivals to gain public input.
The goal of this review process was to ultimately decide the need for a building dedicated to administrative duties, thus having one building to pay bills, reach staff members and have access to the public. And while the building at 319 S. Water St. is new, Baker said, the property was already owned by the city.
However, not every department will move into the new building, Baker said.
“After the survey and understanding of who needed to be where it was decided that Community Development and the Service Department would stay at their existing location on Overholt Road,” Baker said. “Their type of work requires interaction across departments every day, and staff need to be able to accommodate contractors, and residents for permits and utility issues. Service also houses their entire fleet of trucks and utilities along with engineering in their existing location.”
Once the building is complete, city residents should have much easier access to major city services. The building will act as a one-stop shop for paying bills and reaching administrative staff members.
The new site will also act as a complex, with both the police station and fire station east of the building. The complex will start in the city’s downtown area and end at the beginning of the university’s campus.
Though there have been delays throughout the process, such as material availability and another production stoppage, the city plans to have the building open in July.
“The building continues to go up,” Baker said. “The glass is being installed as weather permits and the building is being closed in with plastic to allow for heating. The gas line is [running] and working, and the transformer for the electric has been set and we are waiting on a manual transfer switch to fully energize the building.”
Pat Cherico, the superintendent of the Thomarios construction company, who is in charge of the project, is confident the company will finish the project by July 2024.
“As you can see, work is going on good,” Cherico said. “We are doing what we have to do to make sure we finish this project efficiently. This is why they trust us. If not for COVID, this project could have been history for real.”
Ignatius Ogbu is a reporter. Contact him at [email protected].
Skylar Edington is a TV2 Reporter. Contact her at [email protected].
