Committee will put final touches on new city hall

By LARRY HILLIARD

Ledger Staff Writer

Plans for the new Gaffney City Hall will advance today when the Gaffney City Council Building and Grounds Committee meets to consider some finishing options for the proposed $4.4 million building.

Gaffney City Councilman Bernard Smith, who chairs the committee, said his committee will consider several exterior and interior options for the new city hall.

“This meeting is to finalize plans for the building,” Smith said. “We’ll look at things such as wallpaper and painting schemes for the inside and the color of brick for the outside.”

Smith said he favors a basic red brick for the exterior, similar to the brick facing on the new First Baptist Church building.

He said he hopes the committee’s recommendations will be rubber-stamped by full council.

The city is also expected this week to begin advertising for bids for the project.

Companies will likely have 30 days to submit their bids once the advertising begins.

In a project budget distributed by the architects earlier this month, the building construction is estimated to cost $2,832,084 for the proposed 18,043 square-foot building. The 2,098 square-foot lobby and museum will cost another $329,386 but city officials expect to use a portion of their Hospitality Tax (H-tax) revenue for that expense. The H-tax is a 2 percent tax on prepared food which must be spent on tourist-related projects.

The project budget also puts the engineering and architectural costs at $258,880 and the furniture and equipment at $60,466. Non-construction contingency costs adds another $43,897.

The tower is projected to cost $254,000, with a metal roof to cost $92,000. The tower and metal roof will be bid as alternates.

The new city hall is projected to be completed by October of 2005.