City council solidifies plan to build Ashland city hall on same site

ASHLAND, Ore. — Ashland will soon have a new city hall. This week city council voted to knock down the 100-year-old building in the Ashland Plaza and build a new city hall, right in the same spot.

It’s been a topic of discussion in Ashland for almost the last 20 years. After all that talk, the council has solidified the plan to move forward. The current building is not seismically stable. So the city had been looking at several options to fix the issue, including moving to another building and building in a completely new location. At Tuesday’s city council meeting, councilors decided they wanted to keep the city hall where it is, but rebuild the building to make it safer and more energy-efficient.

“This is fiscally prudent in today’s economy, so we’re looking at basically the same size, a little better structure, definitely a better structure from a fire and seismic safety standpoint,” City of Ashland Public Works Director, Paula Brown said. “This is a 100-year building, we’re building for the future.”

Brown says the next step is figuring out designs and funding options for the project. It’s expected to cost about $7 million. Brown did say a bond was discussed at the business meeting, but nothing is set in stone. There’s no timeline yet for when the designs and projects will be completed.

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