Last week, municipal officials got their first glimpse of preliminary design plans for the new City Hall.
In October, the Cortez City Council approved a $3 million purchase price for The Journal building on N. Roger Smith Avenue. Plans include remodeling and transforming the 25,000-square-foot structure into a new City Hall. A $2 million Department of Local Affairs grant will help fund the renovation cost, which currently totals $2.3 million, Hale said.
“This is a pretty good guess of what it’s going to look like,” City Manager Shane Hale told municipal officials last week, adding that the new City Hall would afford the public a central location for all municipal business.
Unveiled last week, preliminary designs call for the new City Hall to house finance, planning and building, information technology, code enforcement, human resources and municipal court departments.
The building will also include multiple meeting and conference rooms as well as an 80-seat council chambers space.
Pagosa Springs architect Brad Ash said his firm conducted a feasibility study to address the needs of each municipal department, explaining that the preliminary design plan was a living document.
“We’re still looking for staff feedback,” Ash said.
Hoping to utilize the existing structure, Ash said little demolition work was expected, and designers hoped to achieve Silver LEED certification after retrofitting the existing mechanical system and installing solar tubes and skylights.
“We hope to reduce the current structure’s energy cost by 50 percent,” said Ash. “We can make this building a whole lot smarter.”
A $2 million Department of Local Affairs grant will help fund the renovation cost, which currently totals $2.3 million, Hale said.
The final contract on the structure, built in 2001, was $2,995,000, which included a nearly $65,000 discount offered by Ballantine Development to go toward the building’s HVAC and mechanical systems
To Our CustomersThe Journal is moving
The Journal’s offices on North Roger Smith Avenue will permanently close on Christmas, Dec. 25.
The Journal will reopen Monday, Dec. 28 in its new space, at 8 W. Main St. in downtown Cortez.
Business hours will continue to be 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. Monday through Friday.
You may continue to reach us in person or by mail at 8 W. Main St., Cortez, CO 81321.
You may continue to call us at our main customer service number, 970-565-8527; our fax at 970-565-8532; and our TIPS line at 970-564-TIPS.
Advertising customers may continue to call us at 970-565-8527 and email us at advertising@the-journal.com. Readers may reach us at news@the-journal.com.
Thank you for your patience as we continue to transform our business to meet the needs of our customers.
