Ottumwa City Council Chambers | City of Ottumwa, Iowa - City Government/Facebook
Ottumwa City Council Chambers | City of Ottumwa, Iowa - City Government/Facebook
The Ottumwa city council recently went over the upcoming renovation plans to city hall.
During a Dec. 20 city council meeting, the council received an update on the timeline and plan for renovating and improving various aspects of city hall. One of the biggest projects in city hall is addressing the 100-year-old boiler and the overall HVAC system for the building.
Paul Newman, a consultant from Willett Hofmann & Associates, presented the construction plan to the council. The construction called for renovations to restore the building to something similar to what it was when it was originally built as a post office.
"We're going to take all of that out and restore the terrazzo floor and then also open it up, open the ceiling up to the the plaster coffers up there, arches, which are actually in pretty decent shape when we got above the ceiling to look at them. Then in between the columns, bringing it back to similar to what it was when it was a post office and restoring the columns. We've opened up several of the columns and some of the marble is still there, some is gone. The plaster is kind of hit and miss, depending on what's there," Newman said to the council.
Councilmember Marc Roe said that the renovation was long overdue for a unique building that represents part of of the community's identity.
"This is really a good project for City Hall, number one, because this is one of the unique gems that we have in this community. It's the most noticeable building in the community," Councilmember Marc Roe said at the meeting. "We have not done a good job as a city over the last 100 years or so. Otherwise, we wouldn't have 100-year-old boiler that we're dealing with."
Other planned improvements to City Hall will make the building more ADA compliant and accessible including fixing stairwells and hallways, making entrances and exits more accessible, and updating the restrooms to comply with ADA standards. There are also plans for putting in new floors and ceilings into the building, as well as new paint for a fresh look.
"If we if we want to have full public participation in our government, then we need it to be accessible and we don't have very good accessibility for ADA compliance right now," Roe said. "So this will hopefully take care of that and will allow for public participation. So that's I think that that's a good thing for City Hall."
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