Chicopee City Council agrees to 2nd phase of City Hall renovations – MassLive.com

CHICOPEE City Councilors overwhelmingly agreed they are interested in moving forward with a second phase to rehabilitate City Hall as construction on the crucial first phase comes to a close.

While the about $14.2 million first phase of the project focused on shoring up the tower and most of the exterior stone and brickwork that was crumbling, repairing the slate roof, replacing the heating, ventilation and air conditioning system, installing new windows and renovating the auditorium, the second phase of the project would focus on less crucial areas of the building.

Construction is coming to a close and the auditorium, which will have a new meeting space for all boards and modern recording equipment that will ease problems with broadcasting public meetings, sometime in March. Stonework on the building has slowed because it is taking longer to get larger stones that are being replaced and those pieces cannot be set in very cold weather, but it is anticipated to be completed in the spring, said Lee Pouliot, the city planner.

The first phase had to be done to make seriously-needed structural repairs on the about 150-year-old building. More than six years ago, plaster chunks started falling from the molding in the auditorium and stained glass windows loosened from their frames. Then a piece of the support frame that holds City Halls iconic rose-shaped stained glass window broke off and crashed to the stairs below.

A study produced found bad news. The brick facade was bowing out, sandstone columns were badly eroded, an interior brick arch had deteriorated and poor-quality brickwork in the tower was failing. During construction even more problems were found such as plaster ceilings started falling down because they used cut nails.

Phase two is anticipated to focus on the interior of the building, Pouliot said.

That will include renovating and possibly moving offices to better serve the public, increasing document storage which is at a minimum, installing new carpeting, replacing lights with LED bulbs, replacing the outdated chair lift which allows people with limited mobility to reach the City Clerk and Mayors office and making other cosmetic improvements, he said.

Mayor John L. Vieau said he wanted to know if the City Council had an appetite to move forward with the second phase of the project, which would also make the building safer in a situation with an active shooter as well as making cosmetic improvements.

We arent building it for us, we are building it for the next generations, Councilor James K. Tillotson said, adding it if they are going to renovate the building they should complete the work and improve the interior.

In a non-binding vote, councilors agreed that the Planning Department should move forward to find a firm which will begin working on the second phase of the project. The design will cost about $1.4 million and take about 16 months to complete.

Without a design, the cost of improvements is difficult to estimate but Pouilot said he expected it to be between $5 to $7 million. That will will bring the cost of the entire project to no more than $21 million.

Some of the loans the city has been paying for years are soon to be retired so the city will be able to take out more bonds without increasing the amount the city pays in principal and interest, Vieau added.

Along with the other improvements, the second phase also calls for the existing City Council Chambers to be renovated and a movable wall added. That space can be used as staff conference rooms during the day and will give the city more meeting space so they do not have to shoehorn people into offices when two commissions are meeting on the same night, Pouliot said.

There will also be a feed from the auditorium so broadcasting from that room will improve.

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Chicopee City Council agrees to 2nd phase of City Hall renovations - MassLive.com