Residents prefer traditional building for new city hall

"When this building was built, back about 40 years ago, there were 3,000 people in the city," Turner said. "Now there are about 15,000, and with future developments to the north and west, that will likely grow to something like 30,000 in the not too distant future."

The unscientific survey and presentation are part of the process that architects go through for planning and designing buildings. Turner said he and his partner, Jack Duran, would leave the meeting with the basic direction they needed to begin actually designing the $6 million project, which is targeted for completion and occupancy in late 2015.

"What we're trying to do is to figure out just how traditional or modern in design appeal the citizens are," he said.

In one survey question, architects included exterior pictures of iconic buildings that represent various styles of architecture and asked residents which they prefer. By a large margin—78 percent to 2 percent—respondents preferred a traditional over a modern style. The image that was used for the "traditional" example was The Rotunda at the University of Virginia—a white-columned, red brick structure designed by Thomas Jefferson.

For as traditional as the aesthetic tastes of the city's residents were, however, they want something different from the style of structures that exist downtown, Turner said.

Still, residents were not ready to scrap all of the downtown structures. When asked what downtown structures they considered "sacred" and that they might like to keep intact, about half named the city's water tower, city hall annex, rice driers and the park-like atmosphere of Harvest Plaza.

That question was not multiple choice, Turner said. Residents were asked to write in answers and many identified the same things, he said.

Architects also brought in a computer rendering—meant as a conversation starter more than a real example of the future design—that showed the proposed half block location between avenues D and C, immediately across the street from City Hall.

The rendering orients the main entrance of a three-story building toward Avenue C. Turner said the architects have been reminded by residents and business owners that Avenue D is actually the street that gets more traffic.

"We realized that it needs to have two good-looking sides," he said.

There are also many questions that, at such an early stage, have not yet been addressed. Council members pointed to the need for an aesthetically pleasing yet functional building.

"The only concern I have, that I also brought up in some of the earlier conversations, is that plans for this facility would also include public works," Councilman Chuck Brawner said. "There are about 10 city vehicles that park behind City Hall right now. I feel there needs to be another place for them to park so that the City Hall parking isn't cluttered with our white vehicles."

Turner said that such concerns would be addressed during the site-planning phase of the project.

In initial discussions, current city operations would take up roughly two floors of the three-story building. The third floor, or a similar amount of empty space, would be reserved for future growth.

"I just think it's real important that when we do finally get to a point where we can say 'let's go, build it,' that we plan for the future and have adequate room to grow," Councilman Bill Lawton said.

The preliminary concept would convert the building holding the council chambers into a community center-type venue to take advantage of its wiring and technological resources, City Finance Director Byron Hebert said.

The exterior of the building would be reworked so that its faade matched the new City Hall. There is also a plan to turn the city annex into a visitor center, he said. A park would replace other parts of the present building.

"After tonight we're going to really start getting into the design," Turner said.