If you visit City Hall in the next several months, don’t plan on using the main entrance along Duval Street.
That side of the building from Hogan Street to Laura Street was blocked over the weekend with a construction fence, part of a $549,000 renovation of the sidewalk and steps on the side of the building facing Hemming Park.
The project is scheduled to be complete in January.
Upgrades will include a new sidewalk, entrance landing, steps, ramps, railings and planters.
Another access ramp will be added to the entrance to ensure compliance with the Americans with Disabilities Act.
The major facade change will be precast pedestal installed at the corners of the overhang above the Duval Street entrance to the structure, originally a department store before the city acquired the building in 1993 and transformed it into City Hall.
It was listed in 1976 on the National Register of Historic Places.
The first step in the project, completed last week, was to add doors to the Laura Street entrance to allow for building safety while the Duval Street entrance is closed, said Keith Timmons, vice president of KBT Contracting Corp., contractor for the project.
“We had to add two doors in case the building has to be evacuated,” he said.
The security screening area and metal detector was moved to the Laura Street entrance, which will be the public entrance during the project.
Demolition of the Duval Street entrance and sidewalk is scheduled to begin May 30. Construction of improvements is scheduled to begin in July.
The project is expected to be substantially complete and the renovated Duval Street entrance open by Jan. 13.
Timmons said the city’s timeline for the project may be a little conservative. He predicts the project can be completed in less time, barring surprise discoveries when demolition of the sidewalk and steps begins.
“You just never know with an old building like this. We might discover underground utilities we didn’t know were there,” he said. “We hope it will be minimal.”
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