City Hall Update

At a special meeting of the Board of Aldermen, held on Thursday, February 1, 2007, the following options for the renovation of City Hall were presented:

Option 1 - Vacate City Hall & Mothball the Structure

• $768,000 / year lease of Sovereign Bank, 60,000 sf.
• $326,000 / year to heat & light City Hall – can be reduced for vacant building
• $100,000 to relocate Town Clerk & Vital Statistics staff & vault (to Chase Bldg.?)
• Limited parking available for employees and customers at Sovereign Bank location
• Fire Department consolidation or reorganization req’d when Station 10 closed
• Board of Aldermen and other public meetings relocated to alternate facility
• Future renovation costs escalating 8% per year currently
• Future renovation work will increase in complexity due to accelerated deterioration

Option 2 - Vacate & Sell City Hall, find a new City Hall location

• RFP process to select existing building to renovate or vacant land for new building presents innumerable variables – Sovereign Bank example is valued between $1.5 million and $4.5 million, with additional renovation costs required to fit-up floors
• Selection of new facility could remove a private property from the tax rolls
• Revenue from sale of City Hall impossible to determine – City assessment is not an adequate measure of value – no comparable sales, no income approach, current value too low for replacement method
• Fire Department consolidation or reorganization when Station 10 closed

Option 3 - Renovate Fire Code issues & Restore Shell to maintain partial occupancy of City Hall Basement, First Floor & Firehouse only (no program upgrades)

• $396,000 / year lease of Sovereign Bank, 30,000 sf for displaced departments
• $1,540,000 code Fire Code and HC code issues for Bsmt., 1 & Fire Station 2 only
• $16,457,000 exterior envelope restoration, basement interior, infrastrucure project
• $22,167,680 design and construction project
• Occupants include Fire Station 10, Tax Collector, Assessor, City & Town Clerk, and Vital Statistics in existing department allocations without renovation
• Vertical Infrastructure to all future occupied areas provided
• All hazardous material abatement included
• Board of Aldermen and other public meetings relocated to alternate facility
• Future renovation costs escalating 8% per year currently
• Cost of Bonding excluded
• Renovation occurs within partially occupied building – first floor & firehouse
• No new furniture

Option 4 - Renovate City Hall completely with Fire Station 10 remaining

• $396,000 / year lease of Sovereign Bank, 30,000 sf for departments left out by maintaining Fire Station 10 in City Hall
• $35,867,922 design and construction project
• Occupants include Fire Station 10, Tax Collector, Assessor, Town Clerk, Registrar of Voters, Budget & Finance, City Clerk, Aldermen, Mayor, Corporation Counsel, Purchasing, and Fire Department Administration in newly configured and expanded suites
• Cost of Bonding excluded
• Cost of temporary lease for Tax Collector, Assessor, & Town Clerk excluded
• Cost of temporary relocation of Fire Station 10 for renovation period excluded
• No new furniture

Option 5 - Renovate City Hall completely, construct new Fire Station 10

• $39,135,483 design and construction project
• Occupants include Public Works, Tax Collector, Town Clerk, City Clerk, Purchasing, Commission on Aging, Aldermen, City Planning, Fire Marshal, Building Department, Assessor, Registrar of Voters, and Budget & Finance in newly configured and expanded suites or
• Public Works moves out and Occupants include Civil Service & Human Resources, Budget & Finance , Corporation Counsel, Tax Collector, Town Clerk, City Clerk, Purchasing, Commission on Aging, Aldermen, City Planning, Fire Marshal, Building Department, Assessor, Registrar of Voters, Fire Department Administration, and Mayor in newly configured and expanded suites
• Cost of Bonding excluded
• Cost of temporary leases excluded
• No new furniture

Click to view:

City Hall Redevelopment Options

Renovation Matrix for Options 3,4 and 5

Composite Floor Plans for Options 3,4 and 5

Consolidated Departmental Space Program 

Fire Code Option

Option 3 Budget & Schematic Design Budget

Option 4 Budget & Schematic Design Budget

Option 5 Budget & Schematic Design Budget

Proposed Field Street Fire Station A10 Budget Summary & Construction Budget