City hall getting a facelift
McMinnville City Hall has been undergoing slow but steady facelifts over the past several months and more work appears to be in store.
Some recent changes have been a new front entrance, a front doorway system, a security-minded entrance to the water department offices and new carpet and paint. City officials also consulted with an architect in a recent meeting about the potential for an elevator and the architect relayed some ideas for its placement.
No price has been attached to an elevator project yet, which would be used to help make the second floor more usable and create additional space. City officials said price will be the deciding factor in whether an elevator project will be pursued.
“The big thing is nothing significant has been done on this building since the ’70s, so there is a lot of stuff that is really dated,” City Administrator Herb Llewellyn said. “Plus, we’re utilizing more space all the time. So a lot of this work is trying to make it more user-friendly and give it a little bit of help.”
Residents who need city services currently have to visit several different offices in order to accomplish their goals. Llewellyn said one goal is to make use of the second floor and move more administrative offices into city hall, but noted a lot of the future progress will rest with decisions made by the Board of Mayor and Aldermen.
“I thought the last board was really committed to it,” Llewellyn said. “I’m not as sure of this one. I envision doing a little bit every year and not doing it all in one shot.”
Since hiring a city hall carpenter, initial ideas centered around the second floor (treating the lowest floor as the basement), but a great deal of work has been done in the auditorium, the central first floor hallway, as well as in the basement space formerly occupied by the senior thrift shop. Renovations in the old thrift shop are being made to make way for police department expansion and offices.
City hall carpenter Joe Madden noted focus was initially on the secondary floors and has changed since he began work there late last year.
Llewellyn noted the building has other issues such as disability requirements.
“We have some issues that have to be dealt with,” he added, but said ideally, he believes the building should be used as a central point of government to avoid multiple stops or telephone calls at city offices to obtain things like yard sale permits, building permits, or water, sewer or garbage services.