New City Hall construction in the home stretch | News

As concrete sets at the new City Hall construction area, the centerpiece of the city is taking form and work on the final 2016 Bond Project is nearing completion.

Interim City Manager Sam Masiel took time recently to update the public on the project. Christensen Building Group has completed the structural portion of the three-story building, which will feature an atrium entryway and theater-style council chambers. The project construction budget for the new city hall is $17.6 million. The city hall project was approved by voters in 2016, with a total debt issuance of $20 million for city hall and city service center. The service center is expected to cost nearly $6.5 million. Council has had to issue more debt to cover the cost overages.

“Everything is going well. It’s just a matter of getting everything in place,” Masiel said in a phone interview. “You’re going to see as a certain amount of trades peel off, because they’re finishing up certain things … a new set of trades will come in for some of the finishing pieces.”

Masiel likened the activities to a ramp down but a ramp up at the same time with different facets of the job being completed.

Mayor Russell Humphrey added that he’s looking forward to completion of the project by the second quarter of 2025.

“There are a lot of moving parts with that, and it’s really cool to see it kind of come together as it’s doing right now,” Masiel said. “You probably can see a little bit of change now that they’re doing the pavement work.”

When the pavement is laid, the public will no no longer see dirt around the site.

“The big construction stuff — you’re gonna start seeing that go away, because it’s gonna be more interior work,” Masiel explained. “They are in the process of finishing out the detail work.”

He estimated that work on the project is 65% complete, falling behind schedule only because of wet weather in Huntsville over the past year.

“The rain and storms did take a toll on our progress,” Humphrey said. “Staff has been so patient throughout the process, especially the displaced offices. I appreciate the continual ability of everyone to maintain excellent customer service with our citizens.”

Masiel added that the city is waiting to complete the service center project for personnel in some offices to move into the new city hall. After those moves are completed, final work at the service center can be completed with the demolition of the old center (white building) to expose the new building and make way for additional public parking.

“We’re playing musical buildings right now,” Masiel said. “We (the staff) are very excited about this project. We are on budget as well. I’m looking forward to the community’s excitement too.”