The project, started nearly two years ago because of damage from the Northridge Earthquake, is scheduled for completion next year with a planned move-in date of July 2001. There will be some changes from the way offices were laid out in the past, an effort to bring some sense to a building whose interior can be as confusing to navigate as some City Council ordinances. The mayor's office will return to the third floor just off the Rotunda, as it had been in the past, and mayoral staffers will have offices on the second, third and mezzanine levels rather. Previously they were scattered about the building on floors that sometimes required two elevators to reach. The City Council chambers will retain its site but with a new look, so the council horseshoe will face out to the audience.
Work also is planned to improve the acoustics.
All council offices will be located on the fourth floor of the building, rather than on various floors. The plan calls for making use of the entire building instead of an earlier proposal that closed off floors above the 10th level. This would allow the city to bring back some key departments such as Planning and Public Works, which now are in office space six blocks from City Hall. In regard to City Hall's plan to consolidate offices, Joel Loomer, who is part of a group that owns property on Spring Street and has the city as a tenant, said he was concerned about the historic downtown area being abandoned by the city or its workers and the impact it would have on the historic core area of the city. Deaton said the city remained committed to the area but also needed to consolidate its services at City Hall.