Inside Waite Park's $28 Million City Hall Renovation Progress

WAITE PARK (WJON News) -- A major renovation project for an area city continues to progress towards its completion this fall. The Waite Park City Council took a tour of the renovations to the city hall building this week. The exterior of the building has been sealed, and interior work has begun.

The renovations to City Hall are a more than $28 million project.

City Administrator Shaunna Johnson says it is exciting to see the project coming along and all the hard work paying off:

"I think we spent a lot of time planning and really thinking through things from an operational standpoint, and then really looking at our future growth, so we really think we've hit the mark on those things, and we're excited for our move in this fall."

She says they have only run into a small groundwater issue so far:

"It is an area that was a former dump site, so we never knew what we were gonna find in some of those areas, but for the most part, I think the project has gone along as anticipated."

City staff have been working out of the Public Works building while the renovation takes place.

Fire trucks were recently moved to the Public Works building to allow for bay work.

Johnson says the temporary home is a bit snug, but the move has taught them some things as well.

"You get to understand different people's roles when you're working a lot closer in context with them than what you normally are, and so that has been a real rewarding experience for all of us here. You know, the only challenge we really run into is trying to find conference spaces to have meetings but we're making it work."

Johnson says additional benefits to the move have been forcing the city to streamline office space, work areas, digitize a lot of documents, and be more flexible.

City Council meetings are being held in the ISD 742 Admin Offices during construction.

The renovations are on track for City Hall to be back open in late October or early November, and a grand opening will be held at some point after staff have transitioned back into the building.

Paul Habstritt, WJON