City officials say construction work on the new 35,000-square-feet city hall in Citrus Heights is running on budget and ahead of schedule, with plans for a public grand opening and dedication ceremony currently underway.
In an interview this week, Project Manager Tyler Gahagan estimated the hall will be completed by mid-August, as contrasted with a prior estimated date of completion being mid-September. He credited the project’s speed to a combination of weather not getting in the way of anything critical, crews working faster than anticipated, and overall “getting aggressive with the schedule.”
Most recently, Gahagan said crews began installing exterior windows, with an adjacent 4,000-square-feet utility yard erected mid-April. He said framing inside the new hall is almost complete and crews are currently hanging drywall and painting inside.
The new hall will also feature about 5,000 square feet of solar panels on the roof, with half of them already installed, according to Gahagan. He said the panels won’t be able to power the whole building, but will help supplement power and keep the building more energy efficient.
The project manager said landscape preparation and grading will begin after exterior windows have all been installed, in order to avoid dust entering the building. Landscaping will include a “large water feature on the plaza, sizable art display at the main entrance of the building and a small rose garden and water feature on the south-east corner of the building near the community rooms,” according to an update provided to The Sentinel last week by the city manager’s office.
During an April 28 city council meeting, Councilman Mel Turner said he had recently taken a tour through the new hall and called the building “over-the-top impressive.”
The city manager’s office said based on the current construction schedule, and barring unexpected delays, the City is “tentatively scheduled to take occupancy of the new hall in early August.” A grand opening and dedication ceremony is expected to be announced at a future date.
[Related: Drawing shows what new city hall will look like when complete]
The $22 million new city hall was approved in March 2015, along with a new medical office building to be constructed in place of the old city hall on Fountain Square Drive and Greenback Lane. Groundbreaking on the new medical building is anticipated sometime in May, according to the City.
