BALDWIN — Residents of Baldwin got to take their first look at the new Baldwin City Hall during an open house Thursday night.
But it wasn't just residents who were seeing the finished product for the first time. Baldwin Mayor Jerry Neace strongly urged city council members and city hall employees not to go to the facility until it was unveiled at Thursday night's open house.
"I did that by design," Neace said of the surprise. "The council had approved all this over the last several months. They were actually the catalyst. They met with me back in the first part of March and were adamant that we needed to get city hall done. I went into overdrive and pretty much told them, 'ok, if you want it done, this is what you're getting and you get to see it when it's done -- not before,' so I basically forbade any of them, city hall employees and the city council, from coming to this facility until tonight. This was the unveiling for them, and they were very, very surprised, and very, very pleasantly surprised."
The new facility, located in the former South State Bank/Habersham Bank on U.S. 441 next to Dairy Queen, features a drive-up window for bill payments.
"We have a drive-through window that will help our water payments," Neace said. "All of our customers can come through now and make their payments right at the window. We still have a night drop. All that is still here. But having that payment window will be key to customer service for our wonderful customers.
"This is a much more open atmosphere, it's more user-friendly," Neace said. "The employees first will enjoy it because now they can easily talk to one another. The staff from other departments can come in and it's not a maze trying to get through the building. Then the citizens and our customers are going to see it as open government because of the open floorplan. Everybody is accessible, so this will make a much more professional environment."
A new city hall long has been a dream in Baldwin, one Neace and the current council took seriously.
"We were talking seven years ago about a new city hall with previous council," Neace said. "That seed was planted way before I became mayor. However, the city was struggling financially for 10 years.
"When I became mayor that [new city hall] was one of the things they wanted to see done," Neace said. "We made it a priority. From that, we had several ideas, we looked at several buildings and all of them were going to be very, very costly. Then last year, in July, the bank building closed here on 441, and we decided to pursue it."
City officials contacted officials with the bank and inquired whether the building might be available for purchase.
"We talked to the bank and the bank agreed that we would be a good fit," Neace said. "We brokered a deal and in September [2015] we closed on the property for $522,000, and we've got about, with everything, about $160,000 in it -- paint, everything. That's what got us here today and that's what we needed."
During Thursday night's open house, Neace was quick to praise Baldwin Public Works Director Scott Barnhart for all the work he has done to oversee the renovations and remodeling of the former bank into a facility better suited for city government operations.
"We have a public works director that I've known many, many years," Neace said. "As a matter of fact, at one point in time he was my supervisor. He has a work ethic that I cannot compare to anybody but probably my grandfather who ran a farm. His work ethic is just impeccable. He is always here for the city, is always here for our water customers, he is always here for our citizens. Over the last six months, he has been here for me as basically a project manager. He has been here night and day and has really devoted a lot of time, especially in the last month, to get this where we are today to where we could have an open house. I am indebted to him for that."
Baldwin officials say completion of the new city hall couldn't come at a better time. Since the building serves as the precinct for voters, it soon will see a lot of vehicular and foot traffic.
"Our old city hall was on the side of a hill," Neace said. "That's the first thing that you've got to mention when you mention voting. It's on the side of a hill. It had very, very, very bad parking. Handicapped accessibility was virtually non-existent. Now we have a flat parking lot, the building is very easy to get into, and the community room will be set up for all elections now. It's just a night and day difference compared to our old voting precinct. This precinct is going to be way better for the Presidential Election this year."
Neace said the city hall building on Airport Road will be demolished, hopefully by the first of the year.
