Cookeville allocating $40,000 in its new budget for the design and renovation of the City Hall customer service area.
City Manager James Mills said the project represents the final phase of a multi-year effort to modernize the municipal building. Mills said the current customer service space remains the only section of the facility that has not undergone recent extensive renovations.
“We’ve identified the need a couple of years ago, but we’ve had more pressing matters come up that took our attention, but we did include the funds this year and we’re hopeful that we can get to it this year,” Mills said. “It does need to be done.”
Mills said the city intends to hire an architect to oversee the design process to guarantee the space complies with all federal ADA requirements.
“One of the main reasons it’s needed is that some of the counters need to be adjusted to be more in compliance with ADA, but it also just needs a general overall overhaul of the look,” Mills said. “It’s still dated in that area where, as you said, we’ve done extensive renovations to the rest of City Hall and that’s been the last area.”
Mills said the city plans to utilize its own staff to perform the actual construction work once the design is finalized.
“That saves us hundreds if not millions of dollars in all the things we’ve done at City Hall that have been done by city staff and that again is why they’ve been pulled off on many other projects,” Mills said.
Mills said the 60-year-old building has recently received a new heating and cooling system, new windows, and new doors. Mills said maintaining the current facility is a more responsible use of public funds than constructing a new building, which he estimated would cost between $20 million and $25 million.
“We plan on being here for quite a while and we believe that’s the best use of taxpayer dollars, being the best stewards of taxpayer dollars,” Mills said.
Mills said city personnel have been occupied with other construction tasks, including building new restrooms at the splash pad and the Cane addition at the park. Mills said the city will move forward with the customer service renovation as soon as staff time allows.
