Focus on new Franklin CIty Hall

Franklin takes another small step toward new City Hall
Aldermen seek some more details about proposal
The Tennessean • June 1, 2008

FRANKLIN — City leaders want more information from Crosland LLC about its proposal to build a new Franklin city hall, but they aren't making any financial commitments to break ground on one just yet.
Mayor John Schroer and aldermen decided last week to ask North Carolina-based Crosland to flesh out its $76 million proposal to construct a new City Hall and redevelop portions of downtown Franklin.
Aldermen earlier had heard proposals from two firms, Crosland and Balfour Beatty, an engineering and construction group, for the City Hall project.
"We're not committed to complete the journey until we have all the facts, figures and information, and we as a board collectively make the decision to say yes or no," Schroer said. "This is a first step."
As part of Crosland's initial proposal, the company would start a public-private partnership with the city that could create:
• 98,000 square feet of new public space in City Hall and an additional 23,300 square feet of space in the First Tennessee building
• 38,500 square feet of retail and office space for lease
• A 35,800-square-foot, 70-room hotel downtown
• New roads through the development that would connect Second and Third avenues and a new road between Church and Main streets.
Crosland officials in Nashville could not be reached for comment.
While discussion about building a new city hall has been ongoing for years, construction on a new one is still years away.
Franklin police must first move out of the current City Hall and into the new $26 million headquarters building that's under construction on Columbia Avenue. It's slated to be finished by late 2009.
"We have a long way (to go) and we have a lot to do," Alderman Bev Burger said.
Meanwhile, upgrades inside the current city hall are badly needed. For years, city staffers have worked in cramped, deteriorating conditions. As an example of the former shopping mall's shabby condition, Schroer said computer equipment inside the city's Traffic Operations Center must now be covered with a tarpaulin each time it rains because of leaks.
"We owe it to the future of the city," Schroer said. "At some point in time, it's got to be done."