Officials break ground for City Hall addition
By Barbara Arntsen
Published in News on January 19, 2005 2:13 PM
Bundled against the cold, a small group of officials and Goldsboro residents broke ground Tuesday for the new addition to City Hall.
Mayor Al King led the ceremony, tossing a shovelful of earth with a gold-plated shovel as members of the City Council and others involved in the project pitched in.
"This is a very historic moment for Goldsboro," King said.
State Treasurer Richard Moore was on hand for the event. He praised the city officials for wise planning.
"I commend the city for borrowing money at such a great time," Moore said. "They have stretched the tax dollars wisely."
The $5 million expansion consists of two parts: renovation and restoration of the historic old building and construction of a new 30,000-square-foot building that will be connected to the old one by a bridge. An existing annex will be torn down and its space used for parking.
In December, the city accepted a bid of $4.1 million from D.S. Simmons Co. to begin the first phase of the project, the construction of the new building and a parking lot.
The addition will be set back from the historic building, so the historic structure will continue to dominate the view from Center Street, designers say. Although the new building will be similar in style to City Hall, it will not be an imitation, they say.
The second phase of the project includes the renovation and restoration of City Hall and demolition of the existing annex. Mayor King said construction should begin immediately and that he has been told by D.S. Simmons officials that the annex will be ready within a year.