City Officials Break Ground on New Municipal Complex

City Officials Break Ground for New Municipal Complex

Ground was broken Saturday at the approximate site of the entry plaza of the new Anna City Hall, a location Mayor Nate Pike referred to as the focal point for what City officials envision as the center of the anticipated revitalized downtown district.

About 100 citizens gathered under a white canopy on a bright, pleasant morning to participate in the historic turning of dirt at the site, signaling the official start of construction on the formerly vacant parcel bounded by Powell Street (Hwy 5), Fifth Street, Riggins Street and Seventh Street.

In his comments, Mayor Pike called it a momentous occasion, ushering in a new era for Anna. “The new Municipal Complex has been designed for Anna neighbors. It will be a place where residents will be able to conduct business, share ideas, gather as a community, and meet each other in a spirit of cooperation and shared values. It promises to be a very special place for our City,” he said.

While the initial construction schedule calls for the creation of two City Hall buildings connected by an atrium, the Municipal Complex Master Plan provides for expansion when necessary. The twin City Hall buildings will be joined by a new Fire Station on the site as well as a civic plaza which will serve community events. The Police Department will be among the departments housed in the new facility.

The free-standing 15,800 square-foot Fire Station will house Fire administration and operations, drive-through apparatus bays, bunk rooms, a day room, kitchen, EMS, and a fire training facility that doubles as an Emergency Operations Center/Safe Room for emergency response personnel to coordinate disaster response efforts. Within the planned 36,800 square feet of office and meeting space at City Hall, departments destined for inclusion in the new facility are Administration, the City Manager’s Office, the City Secretary’s Office, Human Resources, Finance, Utility Billing, Planning and Development, Building Inspections, Economic Development, Community Services, and Information Technology.

Council Chambers will occupy a two-story space with glass chards facing the future civic plaza. The Council Chambers will accommodate Commission and Board meetings and will double as the City’s municipal courtroom with stadium seating for 130 people.

“The building is unique to Anna,” said the Mayor. “The architectural design introduces a new iconic architectural vocabulary for the future downtown development of the City.” The building’s design is deliberately suggestive of a feeling that evokes “transparency of government” and invites citizens to come in and participate in the legislative process of their City government.

The building’s architect and designer is the firm of Randall Scott Architects, and the construction, expected to last 18 to 24 months, is under the direction of Lee Lewis Construction Company. Funding for the $21 million construction project will not require an increase in the property tax rate.