photo by: Bremen Keasey

The office building at 2000 Bluffs Drive in Lawrence. The former call center building has been proposed by the city as a potential new site for an updated City Hall. The Lawrence City Commission will hear a presentation about the plan Tuesday night.

As the City of Lawrence discusses potential upgrades to the City Hall building, a presentation to the City Commission indicates the city is mulling a plan to move its main government building to a new location.

City leaders and a firm called Multistudio will present two options for the future of City Hall to the commission Tuesday night: stay and renovate the current building at 6 E. Sixth St. or redevelop a building at 2000 Bluffs Drive and make that the new city hall.

According to city documents, continued use of the current City Hall, which was dedicated in 1980, would cost an estimated $12 million in renovations. Some of the renovations in the building include repairing leaks, upgrading restrooms to be ADA compliant, installing new electrical services and generators and rezoning the HVAC system.

One downside to the plan would be that the building — at about 35,000 square feet — does not have enough space to expand for the city’s current or future needs. Currently, the city’s Municipal Court and Planning & Development Services are located at One Riverfront Plaza, which is costing the city about $300,000 a year. The lease for that ends in 2028.

The property at 2000 Bluffs Drive, formerly a call center and customer service location, has 50,000 square feet, which would allow the city to consolidate its departments in one location, according to the presentation.

Renovation to the building at 2000 Bluffs Drive would cost an estimated $11.7 million to transform it into the new city hall, but the land would have to be purchased for $4.2 million on top of the construction costs. If the commission eventually opts to relocate, the existing City Hall building could be sold or repurposed for a different community use, which the city believes would help offset the costs of choosing a different location.

The presentation indicates the Bluffs Drive property has more positives, including more space for employees and more flexibility for possible future expansion. But the clear downside is that the new space would be outside of downtown Lawrence.

Multistudio considered two other sites — the Reuter building on the 600 block of New Hampshire Street and the Riverfront Mall building at One Riverfront Plaza — which are very near City Hall’s current location, but the 2000 Bluffs Drive site was the recommended option.

The city has set aside $12 million in project funding in its long-term improvement plan to cover the costs of either decision. Any construction of either project is expected to start in 2026.

Because the current City Hall building has significance to the community as an anchor property, if the commissioners opt to choose a different location, city officials suggest starting a public process for the future of the property.

In other business Tuesday, city commissioners will vote on executing a $132,776 contract with Sunflower Paving Inc. to repave parking lots and build a concrete walkway in Holcom Park and reconstruction of a walking path to Clinton Lake Softball Complex.

The initial cost to the project would have been $250,000, but budget cuts in the 2024 general fund reduced the allocation for the project to $125,000. The project also received $8,000 from the Municipal Services & Operations operating budget for the ADA improvements at the Clinton Lake Softball Complex.