It may not be the Taj Mahal, but Caledonia aldermen believe the new municipal complex they’re planning will be a welcome improvement for the community.
The board of aldermen met Saturday morning to iron out a rough estimate of what they want, what they need and what they can afford.
Preliminary figures indicate a 5,500 square foot metal building, with a brick facade, will be adequate, Alderman Mike Savage said after the meeting. The building will be located at the corner of South Street and Wolf Road on 16th section land the town has leased.
Although there was initial talk in August of including the volunteer fire department’s headquarters, along with a bank and pharmacy, those facilities were not included in Saturday’s tentative plan.
A pharmacy has opened on Main Street since the August meeting, but a bank is still a possibility, Savage said. The fire department’s needs will likely be too costly to include in the first phase of construction.
“I’d love to do it, but maybe in the future,” Alderman Steve Honnoll said. “Maybe in stage three. When you first start out, you want to build a castle.”
As it stands now, the proposed building will cost around $1 million to construct, Savage said. It’s slated to house the town hall, boardroom, court room, police and water departments, offices for the mayor, town clerk and town marshal, and a community center with a kitchen and bathrooms.
That could all change though, Honnoll cautioned. The main purpose of Saturday’s meeting was not to set a floor plan in stone but to come up with some ideas to give Town Engineer Stanley Spradling, of Calvert-Spradling Engineers.
The board voted 4-0 to submit their proposal to Spradling. Alderwoman Brenda Willis was not present at the meeting.
Caledonia’s current town hall, located on Main Street, is roughly 784 square feet, and monthly board meetings are a tight squeeze, between the large conference table and chairs flanking three walls. When hot-button topics are being discussed, the crowd can swell to standing-room only.
The adjacent community center is also too cramped, Savage said, noting its frequent use for birthday parties and other special events.
They do not yet know what they will do with the current building, which they co-own with Lowndes County.
One thing that will make things easier is the new building’s site, near the Caledonia school campus.
A house and barn used to be on the property, but those were destroyed during the 2008 tornado which ripped through town, scouring the land and heavily damaging the high school and middle school.
Carmen K. Sisson is the former news editor at The Dispatch.
You can help your community
Quality, in-depth journalism is essential to a healthy community. The Dispatch brings you the most complete reporting and insightful commentary in the Golden Triangle, but we need your help to continue our efforts. In the past week, our reporters have posted 37 articles to cdispatch.com. Please consider subscribing to our website for only $2.30 per week to help support local journalism and our community.