You may need a map to find your way around New Westminster City Hall by the time it’s finished renovating.
The council chamber has been off-limits for the last couple of months while renovations are underway – but that’s just the beginning. City staff has been working with a space planning/interior design consulting firms to develop preliminary designs and cost estimates for a massive interior renovation of city hall that will include reconfiguring departments, replacing the HVAC equipment, upgrading an outdated fire alarm system, removing asbestos and upgrading lighting.
In addition to reclaiming space on the eastern side of the building, which once housed the New Westminster Police Department and then the RCMP Integrated Road Safety Unit, the changes would see parks, culture and recreation department administration relocated to city hall from its existing space in Moody Park.
“Really, this is about facilitating an aspiration for a one-stop shop customer service,” said Lisa Spitale, the city’s chief administrative officer. “We have been hearing for years from the community and our customers that some of our services are not well integrated. We will be commencing with upgrades to city hall to really have departments come together and streamline the permit process for our customers.”
On Monday, council approve the layout and proposed schedule for the interior renovations to city hall. The plan would see the first phase of department relocations to take place in the summer of 2016, with construction and completion of most of the construction to be done between July 2016 and December 2017.
Some of the planned changes including moving the development services department from the basement to the main floor of city hall, where it would be integrated with the engineering department. Parks, culture and recreation department would be relocated to city hall as part of this “one-stop shop” concept.
To help the public in finding their way around city hall, the plan also includes improved signage and graphics.
According to a staff report, the current plan has a target capital budget of $6.5 million. Of that, about $600,000 has already been allocated to the council chamber renovations that are already underway. The reports states that some of the building systems being replaced and/or renewed as part of the renovations would be considered ongoing budgeting maintenance and would be funded separately from city reserves.
Coun. Chuck Puchmayr supports council’s decision to renovate city hall to meet its future needs.
“I think this council made a very responsible decision on not going to this huge expenditure of $50- or $60-million to build a city hall,” he said. “In turn, it decided they would make this city hall more functional and start making some of the space more functional.”
