Mayor Karen Sheek and several other members of the Cortez municipal government officially dedicated the new City Hall in a public ceremony on Friday.

Although the building had been in use for about two weeks, Friday was the official open house, with tours and refreshments available to the public from 8 a.m. to about 4:30 p.m. Sheek, along with a few members of the city council and City Manager Shane Hale, wrapped up the celebration in the afternoon with a ribbon-cutting ceremony attended by about 40 people. The night before the public ceremony, they had hosted a private celebration for current and former city employees, as well as other big Cortez names.

“This is the culmination of a lot of hard work,” Sheek said during the ceremony. “I think that I can speak on behalf of the entire city council when I tell you how proud we are to have been a part of this.”

In addition to current and former city council members, Sheek thanked a long list of city employees for their work on the new building, including Hale, Public Works Director Phil Johnson, General Services Director Rick Smith, grant writer Chris Burkett and Planning and Building Director Sam Proffer.

By Friday evening, Hale said about 200 people from the community had toured the building during the private and public celebrations. Sheek said she hoped people would continue to visit city hall on a regular basis.

“I hope that you will feel the same sense of pride that those of us who have been involved in this project feel, and that you will enjoy coming down to City Hall,” she said to those who attended the ribbon cutting.

The new City Hall is at 123 Roger Smith Ave. Office hours are from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m., Monday through Friday.