A few years ago, the City faced a $20 million price tag to replace City Hall with no funding for it, or to save Common Pleas. Thanks to voter renewal of the
capital improvement sales tax, the City has broken ground on a $12M Common Pleas renovation project that will move City Hall back to its original home by Sept. 2021 and preserve multiple historic structures.
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City Hall’s current building has frequent HVAC, plumbing, flooding
and roof problems. A renovated building also be accessible and secure.
- Repair/maintenance needs
- Accessibility and security issues
- Intend to preserve Lorimier through a partnership
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Common Pleas is a Historic, Iconic Landmark
- Over the
years, the building was used for numerous political, social and
religious functions. Common Pleas has been a military headquarters, a
prison for Confederate soldiers and Southern sympathizers, and a
hospital.
- Some original woodwork dates back to 1888
- Carnegie Library added in 1922
- In respect to the building's history, the forthcoming new addition
will functionally connect the buildings but be of lesser prominence.
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Common Pleas Design
- Additional building is lower and lighter to appear less significant to original Common Pleas.
- Parking on-street and parking garage to replace existing surface parking, same footprint. S
- No
red brick because it would appear "fake" and the two buildings are two
different bricks. Also, the original Common Pleas appeared to have been painted a lighter color.
- New building is set from original structures.
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Partners
- Penzel Construction - Current CEO's family arrived in Cape from Germany in 1854, the year Common Pleas was built
- Treanor Architects team described this as a "Dream project" for their preservation architect
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