Whether by decay or demolition, Davis City Hall is coming down.
City Manager Sondra Webb cited unsafe working conditions as the reason she and her staff are moving from city hall to the American Legion building across the street.
“It’s just structurally unsafe,” Webb said.
The building was damaged during a storm in 2001 when high winds tore off the roof, letting rain in. Workers tried to treat the mold, but it became evident to Webb that she was fighting a losing battle.
“I think they did what they thought would work, but it just didn’t,” she said.
The final straw broke on Oct. 5, when the cement covering of the outer east wall fell off, exposing the inner masonry. Two days later engineers inspected the building, and on Oct. 19 returned an engineering report stating the various problems.
The issues with the building include the east outer wall covering, and a failure of the integrity of the wall itself.
Engineers also said the fire station, which is part of the city hall building, is in even worse shape than the rest with walls that have failed and roof joists that no longer fit.
“If it was on good foundation and hadn’t shifted, the building would have been here a long time,” Webb said. “The building just shifted and the bricks separated.”
City workers will remain in the American Legion building for the foreseeable future. The fire department will remain in the building until the new fire house is built.
“We’re going to put ourselves in a spot where we can go about our daily business,” the city manager said.
Webb said engineers have proposed two possible solutions: demolishing the old city hall and building a new one for an estimated cost of $2,296,440, or retrofitting the existing building for $2,274,800. The city council has yet to decide on a course of action.
“That’s money we just don’t have right now,” she said. “There’s no telling how long we’ll be in our temporary quarters.”
Phil Banker 221-6542
