CEDAR SPRINGS, Mich. — A nearly 100-year-old former road commission building is about to become Cedar Springs' new city hall after an eight-month, $3.5 million renovation project.
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Construction crews have been converting the old Department of Public Works garage since last September, with the project now nearing completion.
"The way that the building was designed, we wanted to honor the historic appeal, being a 100-year-old building, but we obviously wanted to modernize and keep up with the times from a functionality standpoint, to create a space for the city hall to be functional," said Cameron Denney, site manager for Construction Simplified.
City Manager Darla Falcon said the new facility will be a major upgrade from the current city hall, which no longer meets the city's needs.
"The current city hall, soon to be the previous city hall, just really didn't meet our needs anymore. It was too small. When we had any amount of people come to meetings, you felt like you were crammed into a cracker box," Falcon said.
The renovation preserved some 1920s-era design elements while modernizing the space for improved functionality.
"We tried to keep a little bit of the 1920s theme. I think we did a really good job with the wood doors that we have, which were kind of popular in the 1920s," Falcon said.
The new city hall will feature spacious offices, a large, bright lobby, bigger council chambers with natural light, and a conference room for meetings. Staff will be able to work more efficiently in the expanded space.
"The offices have plenty of room to have whatever they need in their office with them. They don't have to go to a storage room to get a box or a file," Falcon said.
City hall will close for one week on April 27 to facilitate the move and will reopen at the new location on May 4.
"I hope people are proud of it that we were able to restore an old building, remodel it, and make it this beautiful, a place for people to be proud of," Falcon said.
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