The Abilene City Council will spend part of Thursday's meeting looking at the building the group meets in. City Hall has not grown like Abilene in the last 30 years. Built in the late 1960s, the building has fallen behind in meeting its employees and customers' space needs as municipal government has expanded its scope and its staffs, said Building Official Cassie Hughes. Some filing cabinets stand in common hallways.
Several offices have no space for customers.
On Thursday, the city will propose a plan and cost estimate for a renovated City Hall. Set out in four phases, the plan will consolidate some offices and relocate others over four years. City officials hope the end result will by a City Hall layout that makes more sense. The project was triggered by a bond election in December 1998. Part of those improvements was the creation of an emergency operations center in City Hall.