Chillicothe — Council conducted normal business aside from the homeless issue – including hearing the mayor’s briefing on city administration (read that companion story), and considering a new home for city offices.
Councilman Jeff Creed is the chair of the Facilities Committee, which includes all members of council. He said that back in December they started looking at the situation of old City Hall and the City Administration building on South Paint Street.
Old City Hall at 26 South Paint is empty and unused other than for council sessions, council’s chamber is small…and the elevator sometimes does not work, negating accessibility requirements.
Creed said the Administration building at 35 South Paint does not meet today’s needs, much less future needs. (It is former Chillicothe Telephone offices, and before that, a pre-mall J.C. Penney’s department store.)
And, the city Law Director is housed elsewhere.
Drawing from the 2018 study of city facilities, he said they looked at various alternatives for the two buildings, especially where all offices can be combined.
Creed said to upgrade the City Administration building would probably cost more than $10M, and $8M for old City Hall – and offices would still be in separate buildings. So, he agreed that the $30K they are requesting to further study the situation will be a drop in the bucket compared to those potential costs.
Creed said if the city can purchase a building in the next couple of years and renovate for less, that would be an ideal solution. They are looking at some locations, but he can’t say where, or even if they were in the downtown. (Ohio’s “Sunshine Law” allows municipalities to not disclose real estate negotiations.)
Though the city has had the “Pepsi Building” on East Seventh Street, and Creed says it is almost completely renovated, it is intended for the public works section of the city. He says in the next few months, expect all remaining city services to be moved in to it.
Creed also said he has no date yet for part two of his review of the traffic pattern (including traffic circles) for the proposed ACGP Yoctangee Park renovations. As chair of the Safety / Services Committee, he ran a council review session on March 10th.
Hear Creed in his own words in the below interview video. Also see the companion story on the mayor’s briefing.
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