News update — Round Rock city hall

News update — Round Rock city hall

Written by Amy Stansbury Friday, 05 September 2008

Round Rock citizens will have their first opportunity to provide input on the design of the new city hall building at a come-and-go event from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. on Sept. 30 at the Allen R. Baca Center. A formal presentation will be given at 6 p.m.

Round Rock Communications Director Will Hampton said the new city hall will be an approximately 24,000 sq. ft. policy center that includes council chambers, public meeting space and administrative offices for the city manager, city secretary and communications. The building is expected to be complete by Oct. 10, 2010, or 10/10/10.

In July, the city council selected Austin-based architecture firms Barnes Gromatzky Kosarek Architects, Inc. and Architecture Plus to design the new city hall. Hampton said the architects want more insight from residents on what is important to them about the community’s culture.

“Tell us what Round Rock means to you,” Hampton said. “Tell us historically what’s important.”

The two events Sept. 30 will be a forum for the community to share its perspective with the design team.

“We will share with the public some of the givens, such as the budget, site map, layout of the streets, space we know we need,” Hampton said. “There are some things we can do, and some we can’t. We know the building will be located near the McConico and Baca buildings, but we have some flexibility of the positioning of the [city hall] building on the campus.”

Green space behind the buildings near the amphitheater will be preserved for community events, too. Hampton said the city and architects are considering which functions will be held in the public outdoor space and how much room is needed there.

“The phase of design we’re in now is very high level and conceptual at this point,” Hampton said. “There is no actual design in this stage we’re at now. We are just looking at what functions need to occur in that indoor and outdoor space there and what are the space requirements for those functions and the staff and the council who are going to be working in this building.”

Hampton said the term “civic lantern” was used by one of the design firms bidding for the project, and that the city council and staff liked the concept. Some staff members traveled to various cities in Texas, including Austin, Frisco, Allen and Farmers Branch, to tour their city halls. The one in Allen is what the staff considered to have a civic lantern.

“It could be seen from the freeway and from other places downtown,” Hampton said. “It has a drum-like feature with windows at the top and along the sides that are lit up at night. It becomes sort of a landmark and a signature element of their civic plaza.”

The budget for the new city hall building is $7.8 million and will be paid for by bond money approved by voters in 2001.

McConico:

• Planning
• Municipal courts
• Parks and recreation

Baca Center:

• Senior activities
• Community activities

City hall: policy center

• Council chambers
• Public meeting space
• Administration offices