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COLUMBIA — By Friday, floors two through five of the Daniel Boone City Building will be vacant.
City staff members began moving into the $22 million new addition to existing Daniel Boone City Building on Monday . Administration and engineering divisions of the Public Works Department spent the day moving from their offices into the new five-floor, 72,000-square-foot city hall addition.
- 6:00 p.m.: Decommission of the old chamber on the fourth floor
- Columbia Fire Department color guard will remove the flags
- Procession to the new council chamber
- 6:30 p.m.: Formal dedication of the new chamber
- 7:00 p.m.: City Council meeting begins
- For Cindy Jolly, solid waste district manager, having an office in the new city hall addition means she is no longer surrounded by boxes in her workplace. For Mary Poepsel, an administrative assistant, having a new cubicle in the addition means having more counter space.
On Monday, Columbia city government employees settled in to new offices and cubicles in the new city hall addition. Most seem pleased by the change, saying that the old building had not adequately met their needs and was also somewhat antiquated.
“It’s just a little more updated and refined,” right of way agent Randy Acton said.
Employees think the new addition will be beneficial to the public as well.
“It’s going to be a one-stop shop. You are going to be able to come to one central location and get everything done that you need to get done with the city government,” said Mike Heimos, stormwater educator for the environmental services department.
Speaking in order: stormwater educator Mike Heimos; solid waste district manager Cindy Jolly; Heimos; Jolly; administrative assistant Mary Poepsel; Heimos. - City Hall began moving departments to their new addition Monday. The move is expected to be completed by Friday. This graphic shows the departments that will be located on each floor of the addition.
- Telephones, computers and other office necessities wait to be reorganized throughout the engineering department during the moving process at Columbia City Hall on Monday.
“I would call this a capstone building project to create a one-stop shop for citizens wanting to do business with the city of Columbia,” Assistant City Manager Tony St. Romaine said. “With one place for business, communication between the departments will improve.”
The Protective Inspection Division will move on Wednesday, followed by the Planning Department on Thursday. The city administration, Law Department and city clerk’s office currently have boxes stacked and are ready for their move on Friday.
Offices are set up so that the IT Department can just walk over telephones and computers to be plugged in right away. Phone lines will have little to no disruption of service as it will only take five to 10 minutes to relocate.
St. Romaine anticipates all moves into the new building to be complete by the end of March. Due to snow delaying the concrete pours for the outdoor public plaza, it will not be finished until early spring.
Within two to three weeks, a temporary opening will connect the two buildings on the first floor for the public. The addition can be accessed from the outside through the marked path on the public plaza.
Once the department transition is complete, the floors two through five of the Daniel Boone City Building will be renovated.
“Floors two through five will be gutted on the interior and office space will be made to match the style, design and colors of the new addition,” St. Romaine said. “You will be able to walk in one connected building and not know which side is the addition.”
Renovations are expected to be completed by 2011.
The public can attend the first Columbia City Council meeting in the new chamber, which will include the decommission of the old chamber, on Feb. 15.
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