Residents of Lakeland are invited to an open house next week to learn more about plans for a possible new city hall and weigh in on two different options for council chambers.
The open house will be 5-7 p.m. Monday at Lakeland City Hall, 690 Quinnell Ave. N.
City officials are considering a plan to purchase the Telus commercial building at 84 St. Croix Trail S. A non-binding letter of intent was sent on Oct. 1, said City Clerk Michelle Elsner. The appraised price of the building, which is 1,860 square feet, is $525,000.
Telus, a real-estate management company, is moving to Hudson, Wis., Elsner said.
Residents will be asked to provide input on two different options for council chambers that were put together by the architect, Elsner said.
The parking lot also could be reconfigured to add additional parking spaces, she said.
City officials have spent years trying to determine what should be done with the current city hall, which was built as a Baptist church in 1868. Structural problems include bowing exterior walls, a sagging roof frame and cracks in the basement walls.
There are also signs of mold and water infiltration in the basement, Elsner said, which is a problem. Plus there are serious accessibility issues and high levels of radon have been detected.
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City staff had to move out of the building and into the city’s water department building because of all the issues, Elsner said.
Lakeland officials have struggled with making plans for a new city hall ever since the city hall that was under construction was destroyed by an apparent act of arson in 2016. No one has been charged or convicted in the case.
The building burned on Nov. 13, 2016, just five days after then-Mayor Amy Williams, who supported building a new Lakeland City Hall, was defeated by then-council member Richard Glasgow, who opposed it.
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