The former city hall building is located at 107 N. Cherry St.[/caption]

Nearly a century after it was built, one of Tomball's oldest buildings will either be restored or demolished.

During Monday's Tomball City Council meeting, city staff and council members discussed what to do with Tomball's first city hall.

The first city hall building was built in the 1930s at 107 N. Cherry Street and was left abandoned in the late 1990s after the current city hall on Market Street was built in the late 1960s. Since that time, it has suffered extensive damage, according to public works director David Esquivel.

"It's in major need of repair," Esquivel said. "If you look on the outside it doesn't look as bad. But when you look on the inside of the building itself, the roof is completely gone—it's caved in. There's quite a bit of mold in the building throughout."

Earlier this year, the owners of Cisco's Salsa Company approached Council regarding leasing the property to provide more outdoor seating for the eatery next door. At that time, council members agreed that more research was needed on the building before a possible leasing agreement could be reached.

Local developer Rodney Hutson spoke during the meeting's public comment period to protest the possible leasing, citing the historic property should not be leased to a for-profit, private company. Hutson said the property should be restored and re-opened to the public as a historic site.

"It's probably the second most historic [building] in the city; the depot is probably the first," Hutson said. "It might take a little bit to restore it, but I think every dollar would be well spent. I think we should think about making a mini park on that site. There's a lot of charisma there ... a lot of things that you could build upon and enhance it."

Tomball Mayor Gretchen Fagan said after touring the building, it became apparent that much work would be needed before such a park could be established.

"I've been in this building, and it's bad. But again it's there, and we need to do something with it," Fagan said. "And once we start that process we can see how much is there and is there going to be anything we can [salvage], or do we want to demolish at that point."

Council member Lori Klein Quinn said because the building is historically significant, it could be be valuable to the city as a public space.

"I, for one, agree with Dr. Hutson," Klein Quinn said. "I think we need to restore this as part of our history with signs that say, 'Original City Hall of Tomball.' We could make it a nonprofit part of the city with photo venues, and I don't think that we ought to demolish it or rent it out for for-profit. We ought to restore it to how it originally was."

However, not all council members agreed the building should be restored.

"I see no value in rebuilding the building," council member Field Hudgens said. "We have the depot, and we put all our eggs in that basket. That's where our museum is ... no one speaks about this building at all. This is nothing more than an old building that needs to be demolished and we do something else with the land."

Regardless of whether the building is restored or demolished, the city is required to properly dispose of materials with mold or lead, both of which are present in the building, Esquivel said. Costs for the removal are estimated to be about $24,800 and were approved during Monday's meeting.

"In order for us to move forward in doing something with that building, we have spend the $24,800,"Esquivel said.

Construction start dates have not yet been announced.