Construction of the expansion at Town Hall in Essex is progressing well.
The expansion includes a new customer service desk, modern council chambers, and additional administrative offices and meeting spaces.
Council approved the expansion in Sept. 2024 as the town continues to grow.
Currently staff is split among Town Hall and the Gesto Office building, causing several challenges such as the cost to maintain two facilities, lack of communication between departments, and the public not knowing what facility to visit.
So far, the work inside of the expansion is mainly complete with work ongoing on the new council chambers. Work will now focus on retrofitting the older offices and spaces from the original Town Hall portion.
Essex mayor Sherry Bondy says construction is going well.
"The mayor and a lot of the directors have moved into the new part, and we have our customer service desk. Our new customer service desk is open, and now we're going to start to retrofit some of the older offices. So, it's still a work in progress but we hope to be open and fully functioning in the next couple of months."
She says the new council chambers will be more modern and accessible for the public.
"We do have many people that come out on contentious topics, Committee of Adjustment topics, and our current council chambers if you've ever been in it, or if you've watched a council meeting, it's not comfortable. And we have staff close to delegations. So, this will be modern, and it'll be safer, and the technology will be better."
Bondy says work will now be focused on the old portion of Town Hall.
"It has a lot of issues with heating and cooling, with elevations, it's outdated, you step you step down, it's not accessible and it's not conducive to a positive work environment. That is still ongoing, and members of the public won't really notice that, but you may notice right now a slight delay in answering things because we are literally moving ourselves."
She says the $6.3-million construction project is on budget.
The new council chambers are expected to be open by late April to early May. The remaining work is expected to be completed in the next few months.
Bondy adds that once everyone is in the new Town Hall, the Gesto building will be sold - which would go towards the cost of the project.
Those who plan to visit Town Hall are asked to follow the directional signage and enter through the new entrance located on the North side of the building.