Construction Of New Dunedin City Hall To Begin In May

DUNEDIN, FL — Construction of the new Dunedin City Hall is scheduled to begin in May following the approval of the bid for construction by the Dunedin City Commission.

The new 38,463-square-foot city hall will consolidate city departments and the city commission chambers located at the current city hall, 542 Main St., the former technical services building at 737 Louden Ave., and the former Dunedin Municipal Services Building at 750 Milwaukee Ave. to better serve Dunedin residents and businesses.

City staff said all three buildings were obsolete and renovation would be cost-prohibitive.

The technical and municipal services buildings have been demolished at a cost of $130,000 and turned into surface parking for the new city hall. The commission hasn't decided yet what to do with the current city hall.

The three-hour presentation to the commission on March 30 summarized the history of the proposed new city hall dating back to 2000. The presentation also detailed public input sessions to select the design and location, the financing plan and timeline.

Following three public input sessions, six board and committee presentations and eight commission meetings and workshops, residents were presented several designs for the new building. The community's consensus was the “Wave” architectural design using the east parcel at 737 Louden Ave. for the city hall building and the west parcel for surface parking.

See the Power Point Presentation here.

“I want to thank the city commission for making the historic decision to move forward with a new city hall,” said City Manager Jennifer Bramley. “While the city commission has always supported the effort to secure better working conditions for staff, and better public access for residents in one municipal location, construction of a new city hall has taken a backseat to projects as the Dunedin Community Center and the Hale Senior Center. However, the mayor, vice mayor and commissioners all agreed that it was time, and took a bold step forward to approve the bid package.”

The new city hall will be a community facility with public spaces and access to government in the commission chambers. The main lobby will offer a one-stop customer service area providing residents convenient access to frequently requested services. It will include a two-story administrative wing and a single-story commission chamber.

Designed by Harvard Jolly Architects, the building features multi-use adaptable floor space, energy efficiencies including solar power, a standby emergency generator and four electric vehicle charging stations - all consistent with the city’s EPIC! goal of environmental sustainability.

Public art components will be featured in the design including a large sculpture called "The See" in front of the new city hall.

A selection subcommittee made up of the building architect, the building engineer the building project manager, a neighborhood representative, a professional working visual artist, an arts professional, an Arts & Culture Advisory Committee member and chaired by the city’s arts consultant unanimously approved the sculpture in October and the public art was endorsed by the city commission in December.

Ogden, Utah, artist Heath Satow designed a sleek contemporary interpretation of a water droplet to remind residents that they are a part of something larger - single drop can’t change a coastline, but enough drops together can be the catalyst for great change, much like residents coming together in a city.

Satow has been designing and fabricating public art for more than 20 years. His sculpture "Ripple" won the 2012 Americans for the Arts’ Public Art Network Award for its “innovative and creative contribution in the field of public art."

Satow builds everything in-house in his Ogden warehouse studio, using direct fabrication techniques that minimize material waste.

Additionally, there will be three pieces of public art inside the city hall.

The total cost of the new city hall is $22,808,000 with the majority of the funding, $16,829,700, financed with a loan from the Penny Special Revenue Fund. The total cost of the project includes $1,023,468 for the surface parking lot and $487,417 for the solar energy system.

Coronavirus safety features added to the project include contactless surfaces including automatic doors, elevators and access controls, hands-free restroom fixtures, built-in walk-off mats at entryways, increased air-conditioning filtration and UV light disinfection for air handlers and UV restroom air purification systems.

The last municipal services building was built in 1966.

The new building will have an estimated lifespan of 75 to 100 years.

Construction by Manhattan Construction Co. will begin in early May. The commission expects the building to be substantially completed by August 2022 and opening in September 2022.

Get progress updates here.