Construction is nearly complete for a new town hall building in the Town of Clermont.
Clermont Mayor James Nix says town officials have been operating out of the current town hall building on King Street near since 2013. He said it has several deficiencies that led to the decision to build a new facility.
"It's a smaller building and not set up and organized as an office for a town hall nearly as well as what we think we're getting now with the new one," Nix said. "We don't even have an extra room to have a meeting in if someone wants to come in and meet with me or one of the council members."
The new building, located on Old Cleveland Road (Ga. 254) next to the Clermont Historical Society and the Chattahoochee Center, will be just under 3,000 square feet. Nix, who was first elected as Clermont mayor in 2005, said it will be a significant upgrade.
"It's hard to compare the place that we're working out of now and the new one. There will be a whole lot more room. We can organize it better," Nix said.
The new facility is being built at a cost of around $900,000, being built by Clermont-based Scroggs & Grizzle Contracting. It's being paid for by SPLOST and American Rescue Plan Act dollars, according to Nix.
Nix said while the exact completion date is uncertain, they are hopeful the new facility will be ready within the next month. Construction on the project began in December of 2024.
While not even 3,000 square feet may not sound like a large building, Nix said it will be more than sufficient for the small town staff. The 2020 U.S. Census listed Clermont's population at just over 1,000 people.
"We don't have any departments, really. We've got a clerk and the assistant clerk that work out of it, and then there will actually be a place that the mayor and some of the council members can have an office that they could use," Nix said.
Nix said a ribbon-cutting is planned to be held, but there is no set date for it at this point until a completion date is known.
