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69 °F Forecast | Road Cams Monday, April 12, 2004 Today's News | Classifieds | Autos | Homes | Jobs | Tempo | Health | Community | Home Delivery SECTIONS Home Page Local News Sports Business Obituaries Life Opinion - Politics AP News Weather Classified Archives Site Map EXTRA Newspaper in Education Personals Movie Times TV Times E The People CLASSIFIEDS Find a Car Find a Home Find a Job Find a Rental Place an ad eSouthernOregon Automotive Communities Entertainment Publications Recreation Calendar CUSTOMER SERVICE Frequent Questions Advertising Information Home Delivery Employment Contact Us Media Kit Network Affiliate Email Story to a Friend April 1, 2004 Phoenix teardown may help it build City Hall property could be sold to county for library, and funds would buy new offices By BUFFY POLLOCK for the Mail Tribune PHOENIX � City officials hope they can tear down the old City Hall, provide a site for the new library and help fund a new home for city offices and police — all in the same deal. City Planner Denis Murray said tearing down City Hall and selling the property to Jackson County for the new library would provide some money to build city offices closer to downtown. City Hall, built sometime in the late 1940s, badly needs replacing, Murray said. The building is being "held together by all the termites holding hands," he joked. "... We’ve had a number of different contractors look at it and it’s not worth putting a lot of money into," he said. "The walls are crumbling, the foundation needs work, we literally have found termite tunnels where they’ve tunneled through the walls." In addition, the roof is corrugated tin, the walls are a combination of add-ons and "patch jobs," electrical systems are not up to par and parking is inadequate to meet current needs, he said. Advertisement Located on West First Street, the lot would provide a suitable site for a new library to replace the current one on West Second Street, Murray said. Estimates gathered in recent years show that a 12,000-square-foot building, about half the size of the existing City Hall, would cost about $2 million. At this point, Murray said the city was simply interested in a same-size replacement on a lot that would allow room to grow later. "As we continue to grow as a community, we expect we will have a need for that much office space. Right now we’re just looking to house what we’ve got right now," Murray said. Assistant County Administrator Dave Kanner said an offer had been made to the city but that the county was not necessarily in a hurry to buy property. Replacement of the library is in a third tier of plans to rebuild or remodel 14 of the county’s libraries with $39 million in voter-approved bonds. Design and planning for the Phoenix library is expected to begin late this year and construction in 2006. "Worst-case scenario, we could expand the building that we’re in, but that’s not an ideal solution because of the constraint of the lot," Kanner said. "The property City Hall is on would be ideal for a library. It’s in a residential setting and in close proximity to schools." Murray said the city hoped to have planning in place should the council opt to sell the existing property. "We’re going to be wanting to get community input on how we want to deal with this issue," he said. "We’ve got to do something about City Hall and we may need the public’s help in figuring out what we’re going to do." Buffy Pollock is a free-lance writer living in Medford. E-mail her at [email protected]. Mail Tribune Home Local News | Sports | Business | Obituaries | Life Opinion - Politics | AP News | Archives | Site Map E Southern Oregon | Classified Copyright © 1997-2004 Mail Tribune. All rights reserved. Privacy Policy | Terms & Conditions Website Feedback 3 WEEKS FREE! ADVERTISERS A D V E R T I S E R S RESOURCES Oregon Road Conditions & Cams SPECIAL SECTIONS Auto Finder Job Finder Home Finder Joy Magazine Homelife Magazine Tempo Readers' Choice Real Estate Showcase Since We Asked Food for Thought Wellness Connection Outdoor Journal Moving to Southern Oregon? Volunteer Opportunities Prime Times