By Moses Leos III.
Buda city departments are running out of room. The question is, what happens now?
“We are full at city hall,” City Manager Kenneth Williams said. “We have to move walls around to make things fit. We don’t have any space left.”
| Buda population projections |
Results from a Facility Study conducted by Wiginton Hooker Jeffry (WHJ), a consultant firm, revealed the city has outgrown its city hall, library and police headquarters.
That’s why a new building to house all three city departments is in the early planning stages. The plan was presented as part of a March 28 public input meeting, as the city unveiled results from its facility study.
According to Williams, “it was time” for the city to conduct a facilities assessment.
Based on population projections, Buda would need to substantially grow its facilities. WHJ proposed a multi-story, 73,000-plus square foot structure that would house a new city hall, library and police station.
The structure is projected to be two to three stories, and would have a “mall” separating city hall and the library. Bill Hidell from WHJ said the mall could house meeting spaces, which the current facilities cannot accommodate. It would also keep the projected three to four thousand daily visitors flowing freely.
“We envision this to become the living room of the community,” Hidell said. “A lot of social interaction in the library will happen in that mall.”
According to Don Greer at WHJ, the firm conducted interviews with Buda’s department heads to assess the viability of their structures. They also utilized resources from other similar size cities, comparing and contrasting ideas.
“We use other cities as benchmarks,” Greer said. “We look at how they grow and where they are.”
WHJ also presented several options via a resident survey assessing how the city should plan for future growth. Residents want to keep city hall, the library and police department together, but separate from other city buildings.
During the public meeting, however, mixed feelings arose regarding a police station housed near a library. Both Greer and Hidell said there could be other options, such as using the current library as a transitional police station.
Buda’s current city hall, which was built in 2000, could be the new home of the Economic Development Corporation, or the Buda Area Chamber of Commerce.
“I like the idea of a centralized city hall and library,” Buda resident Carolyn Pate said during the public meeting. “I’m most interested in how they are going to make it easy for people to get in and out.”
Pate liked the idea of having a police station near the library and city hall, as did John and Karly Montez. John said there were ways to address security issues. Obtaining a blueprint to expand city facilities was a key point.
“The fact this meeting is in an elementary school, and not at a city building, speaks to that need,” Karly said. “They worked a lot into that plan. It’s definitely a big improvement over what we have now.”
Two big questions loom: where will the new building go; and how much would it cost?
At a size of roughly five to ten acres, keeping city hall and library in downtown would be a difficult challenge. Greer said the city is looking at several sites, but “isn’t at liberty to say [where] right now.”
How much the project could be worth is still up in the air; that goes for any method of funding for it, which includes placing it in a possible November bond.
For now, Williams will work with the public’s reaction to it all.
“I thought the meeting was good,” he said. “Consolidation of services are a positive thing. It helps (staff) in their work day actions.”
