Updated July 16, 11:42 p.m.–
After more than two years of discussion, debate, and planning, Citrus Heights city leaders finally broke ground Wednesday in a ceremony to celebrate the start of construction on a new $22 million city hall.
“I want to thank all of you for being here to join us for this epic moment in our history,” Mayor Sue Frost told a crowd of about 150 people Wednesday morning, calling the city hall groundbreaking “an important step for our future.”
“This is by far the largest project in the history of the City,” Citrus Heights City Manager Henry Tingle told the crowd, who had assembled under a tent on a patch of dirt and crushed gravel at the site of the soon-to-be new city hall. He praised various City employees for their efforts in making the project go from a dream to reality, highlighting the work of his assistant, Monica Alejandrez, who spearheaded the effort.
“When this project is completed, there will be a plaque put on this building and it will have your mom’s name on it,” the city manager told Alejandrez’s two children who were present at the ceremony, seeking to highlight the significance of the project. “When you grow up and have your own families, you can bring her grandkids and show what their grandmother did many years ago.”
Former mayor of Citrus Heights and current Sacramento County Supervisor Roberta MacGlashan was also present for the ceremony, having been one of the City’s first five council members when the City was formed in 1997. MacGlashan called the project a “wonderful accomplishment” and noted it is scheduled for completion just prior to Citrus Heights’ 20th anniversary of becoming a city.
[GALLERY: Preliminary artistic Images of New City Hall]
Looking ahead, Capital Partners Developer Rod Johnson told the crowd the site would be transformed quickly, with “a flurry of activity” scheduled to occur next week. He said in a little over 12 months, community members can expect to be sitting outside in a “very beautiful quad area, looking at a state-of-the-art city hall.”
The new hall is part of a larger $53.2 million project approved by city council members in March, which includes a new three-story Dignity Health medical office building being constructed in place of the old city hall at the corner of Fountain Square Drive and Greenback Lane. The new hall will be constructed nearby on a 10.9-acre parcel next to the Post Office, just a block away from the original hall on Fountain Square Drive.
[From March: Council votes 5-0 for new city hall & MOB; lawsuit threatened]
The new city hall will feature a single-story, 35,000-square-feet design, with an adjacent 4,000-square-feet utility yard.
Demolition of the old city hall property will likely begin in mid-August, according to the city manager’s office.
