Stakeholder and community participation meetings were held in February. The program was completed in August 2000. In March, the City Council selected the Austin firm of Cotera, Kolar, Negrete and Reed Architects with Antoine Predock, FAIA of Albuquerque, New Mexico as the Lead Designer and Lars Stanley, AIA as Associate Architect and Sustainability Consultant. Beginning in January, the City Council moved its regular meetings to an LCRA facility on Lake Austin Boulevard, and all City employees working in the Municipal Annex were relocated by the end of February. Demolition of the existing buildings was completed this fall, and construction of the underground parking garage is expected to begin in early 2001.
Community participation is vital to a successful programming and strategic planning process.
With the new City Hall being part of a larger private development, it will be important for the design team to create a new City Hall which is distinct from the surrounding CSC developments. Further, due to the plaza s location at Town Lake, consideration needs to be given to connecting the plaza with nearby pedestrian walkways and bikeways. The new City Hall will be approximately 115,000 gsf, and overlook both Town Lake and a revitalized, retail oriented Second Street. The Council has tentatively approved a restaurant and other retail support uses in 4,000 gsf of the new City Hall, pending a more detailed discussion of the retail project to be held in 2001. A Public Plaza will be constructed on the south side of the lot, facing Town Lake.