‘We’re excited to see it coming’: St. George breaks ground for new city hall

Written by Mori Kessler
September 20, 2023

ST. GEORGE — A ceremonial groundbreaking in downtown St. George Wednesday morning ushered in the start of construction for the new city hall.

At the groundbreaking for the new St. George City in downtown St. George, Utah, Sept. 20, 2023 | Photo by Mori Kessler, St. George News

Elected officials, city staff and others gathered in the parking lot along Main Street just south of the Wells Fargo Bank and directly east of the Town Square for the morning event. The mayor and others delivered short speeches and dirt was turned over by those involved in the forthcoming project.

“We’re excited to see it coming,” St. George Mayor Michele Randall told St. George News. “It’s been a long time coming.”

Plans for a new city hall have been in the works for many years and deemed necessary to keep up with the increasing demands for city services as the city grows.

The current city hall, located at 175 E. 200 North, was built in 1980 and is around 34,000 square feet. At the time St. George’s population was around 13,000 people and general city services could comfortably fit in the building.

Now, 43 years later, the city’s population stands at over 100,000 and every nook and cranny of the old building has been filled to accommodate the growth in city services. Some departments have had to relocate to new buildings or satellite locations due to the lack of space.

“We have filled every space – even closets,” Randall said.

A rendering of the new St. George City Hall shown at the groundbreaking for the new building in downtown St. George, Utah, Sept. 20, 2023 | Photo by Mori Kessler, St. George News

Randall said the address of the new city hall — 61 S. Main St. — is symbolic as it is a reference to the year 1861 when over 300 Latter-day Saint families were sent to the area by Brigham Young. Among those early settlers were some of the mayor’s ancestors.

“I think they would be very proud that our new city hall will be located in the heart of downtown Dixie,” she said.

Attributes of the new city hall will include the following:

  •  Three levels over a space of approximately 69,500 square feet with considerations for future expansion.
  • Increased space in the Council Chambers from a current capacity of 150 to 300 and also be easily converted to a community room, training center and a space for public forums.
  • Ground-level indoor civic space consisting of 4,350 square feet to be programmed for civic events and provide opportunities for public art installations and informative exhibits.

There will be a four-level parking structure on site, nearly tripling the number of parking spaces available at the current City Hall building. The parking structure will be available to the public during and after business hours and on weekends.

“High-efficiency, productivity, necessity, transparency and functionality have been major drivers in designing the new City Hall,” Randall added in a press release from the city. “City Hall belongs to the people, so with that in mind the facility will have an open, clean, well-lit, safe and friendly environment that the community will easily identify as welcoming and open to all.”

The new building will feature an atrium people can pass through from the parking structure to reach the Town Square.

City Manager John Willis said the city had snagged a great location for the new city hall as its main entrance faces the Town Square and looked out toward the “D” on the Black Hill beyond it.

St. George Mayor Michele Randall speaks at the groundbreaking for the new St. George City in downtown St. George, Utah, Sept. 20, 2023 | Photo by Mori Kessler, St. George News

Prior to the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic, the city had planned to remodel and expand the current city offices due to the location behind Wells Fargo not being available at the time, former St. George mayor Jon Pike said.

However, while the city was forced to hit the pause button on the project when the pandemic hit, Pike said it couldn’t have worked out better.

“I think it’s very exciting that it’s able to happen right here, in downtown St. George,” he said.

It was initially a challenge to get Wells Fargo to agreed to sell the parking lot to the city, Randall said, Once the city was able to buy it, though, it was “full steam ahead on the design and how it would fit on this property.”

The price tag for the new city hall and parking structure is set at $45 million, Randall said.

Half of that has been paid for through money saved by the city, she said. The remainder is covered by two low-interest bonds the city was recently awarded. One of those bonds is meant to cover the new parking structure.

Once the new city hall is built and open in 2025, the old building will be repurposed for use by the St. George Police Department.

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Copyright St. George News, SaintGeorgeUtah.com LLC, 2023, all rights reserved.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Mori Kessler serves as a Senior Reporter for St. George News, having previously contributed as a writer and Interim Editor in 2011-12, and an assistant editor from 2012 to mid-2014. He began writing news as a freelancer in 2009 for Today in Dixie, and joined the writing staff of St. George News in mid-2010. He enjoys photography and won an award for photojournalism from the Society of Professional Journalists for a 2018 photo of a bee inspector removing ferals bees from a Washington City home. He is also a shameless nerd and has a bad sense of direction.

Email: [email protected]
Twitter: @MoriKessler@STGnews

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