City of Benson Public Works Director and Engineer Brad Hamilton goes over blueprints for Benson's new City Hall Annex while providing a tour of the nearly completed building that will serve a temporary city hall until a new complex can be built.
The outside of the building that will serve as the future Benson City Hall Annex still needs work, but is nearing completion. Public Works Director Brad Hamilton hopes city employees will be moving into the new facility in three to six months.
Brad Hamilton tries out one of the office spaces inside the new Benson City Hall Annex. Work to the building, which has been going through extensive renovations, is finally nearing completion.
City of Benson Public Works Director and Engineer Brad Hamilton goes over blueprints for Benson's new City Hall Annex while providing a tour of the nearly completed building that will serve a temporary city hall until a new complex can be built.
The outside of the building that will serve as the future Benson City Hall Annex still needs work, but is nearing completion. Public Works Director Brad Hamilton hopes city employees will be moving into the new facility in three to six months.
Brad Hamilton tries out one of the office spaces inside the new Benson City Hall Annex. Work to the building, which has been going through extensive renovations, is finally nearing completion.
BENSON — City employees are looking forward to moving out of their existing City Hall offices into a completely renovated 3,500-square-foot modular building.
While the future Benson City Hall Annex hit a few delays because of supply chain snags and construction crew shortages, Brad Hamilton, Benson’s public works director and city engineer, hopes the building and site work will be completed in three to six months.
The modular building was purchased from Fort Huachuca in 2020, where it was used as a temporary veterinary hospital by the military base. Benson’s current city hall complex has serious structural problems and is slated for demolition once employees have moved into the new annex.
In 2018 the building that housed the city council chambers was demolished after one corner of the structure sank about 14 inches. Plans are to rebuild a new city hall complex on the existing site at a later date. Meanwhile, some city departments will be working out of the future city hall annex, located at 100 E. Sixth St., once the site work is completed.
“Right now we’re waiting for steel that will be used for planters around the building,” Hamilton said. “We’ve been using city crews and subcontractors for underground utilities, grading, concrete work, the foundation and painting, to help keep costs down. Steel work that we needed was done by different contractors.”
Hamilton said the city will be losing 2,000 square feet of space in the new building, going from 5,500 square feet to 3,500.
“There are some concerns about the smaller area, but we’re looking at ways to make it work,” Hamilton said. “We’re going to have a Connex in the yard for storage, and we’re switching heavily from paper documents to digital documents.”
The building’s interior colors are gray tones and soft blues, creating a relaxing work environment for employees.
“The architects — BWS Architects out of Tucson — have done a remarkable job with this project,” Hamilton said.
Landscaping the property is the project’s next phase. Plans are to bring in trees, shrubs and planters, with the entire building surrounded by an awning.
“We’ve experienced a few delays along the way, but as we get closer to completion, we’re getting more excited about moving into our new space.”
The 3,500-square-foot commercial-grade building came with a sprinkler system, fire alarms and everything required under building code, Hamilton noted. The city was able to purchase the structure from Fort Huachuca for $10,000, representing a significant savings.
“To date, we’ve spent $413,000 on the remodel, design, and all the improvements to the perimeter,” Hamilton said. “This does not include landscaping, sidewalks, parking and the signage. Once the entire project is completed, we expect the total cost to be between $650,000 and $750,000.”
Like Hamilton, City Manager Vicki Vivian is looking forward to getting everyone moved into the new offices.
“We won’t have the disconnected offices that we have right now, which is going to be a huge improvement,” she said. “The building looks amazing inside. Once the outside is finished it’s going to look fantastic as well. I can’t wait to showcase our new building to the community at the grand opening and open house, which will follow shortly after we move into the new facility.”
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