[Press Release] : City Hall renovations starting on 'ground floor' (revised)

[pr-l at news.gocolumbiamo.com]

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FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE 
Contact: Toni Messina, Public Communications Director - (573) 874-7660
or Tony St. Romaine, Assistant City Manager - (573) 874-7721

City Hall renovations starting on 'ground floor' (revised) 

COLUMBIA, MO (April 26, 2007) - Phase I of the expansion and renovation
of City Hall begins April 30 with improvements to the first floor of the
Daniel Boone Building. The lobby will remain open during construction,
scheduled for completion this September. 

This first phase will create a permanent location for two Department of
Finance divisions now housed in the “annex” at Eighth and Broadway:
the Treasury Division and Finance Utility Customer Service Division.
Plans include construction of a modern, utility payment drive-through on
the north side of the Daniel Boone Building.

Assistant City Manager and project coordinator Tony St. Romaine said
that the work is another step toward centralizing more city government
services in a modern, energy-efficient building.

“We started by renovating two historic city facilities in the
downtown municipal government complex at Seventh and Broadway,” St.
Romaine said. “The Howard Municipal Building was completed last May
and the Gentry Building in November.”

Those structures house several City offices, including those formerly
located in the Gates-Rader building, which was just east of City Hall on
Eighth Street. 

“Employees were thrilled to make that transition, and we were
relieved to demolish Gates-Rader earlier this year,” St. Romaine said.
“That building had far outlived its usefulness.”

St. Romaine said that the annex will be demolished after city employees
move to their new locations. 

“This sets the stage for site preparation and construction of the new
City Hall wing and total renovation of the Daniel Boone Building. It’s
a complex process, and I will be delighted when we can publicly dedicate
the project in 2010.”

EBH Builders from Jefferson City was awarded the $1 million competitive
bid for Phase I construction. Phase II of the project will be contracted
in 2008. Work will include demolition of the annex and construction of a
five-story addition that will temporarily house all city staff currently
located in the Daniel Boone Building. 

Phase III will renovate the second through fifth floors of the Daniel
Boone Building. Construction is expected to start in fall 2009 and end
in fall 2010, when city staff who relocated from the Daniel Boone
Building return to their permanent offices.

The architect for the entire project is Chiodini Associates of St.
Louis, who helped the city analyze its space needs looking forward to
the next 20 years. Chiodini also designed and planned the renovations to
the Howard and Gentry buildings.

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