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The new city administration building on East Main and North Whiteman streets, part of an $8.3 million construction and renovation project, is expected to be operational and open to the public this month, according to city officials.
The public is expected to have access to the first floor of the new building Oct. 18.
The city will spend about $5.8 million on the new administration building and another $2.5 million to convert the current city hall on North Detroit Street into a “justice center” that will house city police, probation and law departments.
“I’m so pleased that Xenia’s new city administration building is nearing completion,” said Xenia City Council President Michael Engle. “It’s truly a beautiful addition to our downtown and will provide our citizens with a much more accessible and functional environment for doing business with the city’s government for many decades into the future.”
The administration building, the new city hall, will include enhanced privacy for utility billing and income tax customers inside and a drive-up drop box in the parking lot for payments after business hours.
Enterprise funds, such as water, sewer or sanitation, will be used to partially fund the new building, according to the city website.
City water and sewer customers can expect their annual bills to increase by an estimated $20 to $25.
Plans for the new 24,297 square-foot administration building and city hall renovation projects were initiated to reduce overcrowding in the police department housed in the basement of the current administration building on North Detroit Street.
“The completion of this facility allows for the consolidation of many city administrative functions, specifically our planning and development departments, into a single-stop shopping location for our citizens and future business partners,” Engle said. “Also importantly, the movement of administrative functions out of 101 North Detroit Street clears the way for our outstanding police division to finally expand out of its very cramped quarters in the basement. This will improve the police division’s day-to-day operations and their office setting quality-of-life.”
City employees with offices on the first floor in the North Division Street location will start moving on Oct. 13, said Lee Warren a city spokesman.
“We’re going to be doing this in waves so as not to impact the citizens,” he said. “Different departments will be moving at various times.”
The move will probably take about two weeks, Warren said. Offices moving to the second floor in the new location are expected to move the week of Oct. 20.
Construction inside the future justice center will pick up momentum once the first and second floors inside the current city hall on North Division Street have been vacated, Warren said.
“We want to be out of there so they have freedom of access without any encroachments,” Warren said.
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