Lower Burrell completes $3.3 million city hall renovation
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Lower Burrell’s $3.3 million city hall renovation project came in close to budget and is done about six months later than its original completion date because of delays caused by the covid-19 pandemic.
The renovation is readily apparent by the newly painted main city hall building, going from the outdated taupe and brown exterior to a three-tone steel gray, white and light gray. This is the building’s first major renovation project in 25 years.
“City hall is now nice, clean and new looking, which makes people feel good,” said Mayor John Andrejcik.
The updates and enlarged city facilities provided much-needed additional space for the public works and police departments, city officials said.
The public works department got its own building, gaining 6,000 square feet where their heavy equipment has been located from City Hall. The police took over the former public works space in city hall, growing their space from 4,000 square feet to 6,000 square feet, said Michael Nedley, Lower Burrell’s code enforcement officer and project coordinator.
“The money spent on this project wasn’t so much for us, but for our taxpayers,” Andrejcik said. City Hall now offers its services under one roof as the tax collection office has moved into City Hall from another nearby building.
“Everything is centralized and available at the entrance of City Hall for the public to take care of all their business and questions,” Andrejcik said.
Residents will also benefit from technology upgrades that will make it easier in the future to access city services via the internet. Better communications are in works with videotaping capabilities in the public meeting room as well, he added.
Councilman Chris Fabry, director for finance for the city, said he was pleased with the project providing much need extra space and making it easier for people to conduct city business.
Council raised real estate taxes in 2017 in anticipation of the project, and then last year floated a $4.5 million, 30-year bond to pay for it.
“We recently received a bit of good news in finding out that the final asbestos removal bill came in at $47,000 under estimated costs,” he said. “That money can be reallocated towards other needs in the city.”