The city of East Lansing could get a new City Hall.
City Manager Robert Belleman says the current City Hall building off Abbot Road has a number of issues including a lack of natural light and inadequate space for public meetings and election activities.
The building was constructed in 1965.
During the City Council’s meeting on January 14, Belleman said they could decide to fix up
the space, move to an existing building or even construct a new City Hall.
“I would like to engage an architect engineer to assess current City Hall for possible solutions to accessibility and ADA compliance challenges,” said Belleman.
Some of the issues are easy to see. Belleman says the building’s heating problems are evident by the use of space heaters throughout the building.
And other issues, he says, can be heard.
“I was having a meeting with Councilmember [Erik] Altmann today, and as we're standing there or sitting in my office, you can hear everything outside on Abbot because the windows are single pane and probably have lost some of the caulking around the sides.”
The City Council gave Belleman permission to solicit proposals to help decide what to do next—whether that's renovations or a whole new building.