Most city services are up and running at City Hall as Starkville officials transition into their new administrative home.
Staff and movers began the arduous task of transferring assets into the new facility last week, and officials are now settling into the new building.
The $6.7 million project, which was born out of the decades-long attempt to construct a new police station, was completed this fall.
Starkville’s community development department and city clerk’s office are both open. Starkville Municipal Court is open for fine payments, but its first session isn’t scheduled until next week.
The Starkville Board of Aldermen will also hold its first meeting in the building 5:30 p.m. Tuesday, but planning and zoning commissioners had the distinction of holding City Hall’s first public meeting Tuesday, a meeting in which they approved a preliminary plat for a new Walmart Neighborhood Market near Mississippi State University’s campus.
Officials are still working through some growing pains. For example, City Hall’s primary phone number still rings at Starkville’s former municipal home, which is also transitioning for Starkville Police Department’s full takeover.
“It’s definitely still a transition week, but I’m very pleased with this project. Rarely does something that’s been anticipated as long as this live up to it. It’s fair to say this has exceeded my best expectations,” said Mayor Parker Wiseman. “We’ll be 100 percent Monday. Everything that’s going to happen in this building will be happening then.”
Besides serving as the city’s primary place of business, Wiseman said City Hall is a civic anchor for the downtown terminus of Main Street.
“It’s important for our city’s identity. Civic buildings should offer a sense of who we are as a community. It’s important that they be inspiring and that they be symbols of community pride,” he said. “I believe this building does that, and it does so in an impressive fashion.”
Now that most of the former administrative building’s functions have transitioned to City Hall, SPD will expand its operation out into the excess space.
The expansion won’t be finalized until after a renovation project is completed on that building, Chief Frank Nichols said last month.
In May, aldermen unanimously approved a $3 million-maximum financing package that will improve SPD’s base after the city previously showed interest in purchasing Cadence Bank’s downtown branch.
The partial renovation plan — improve a majority of the building and its parking lot — was priced less than the cost of acquiring Cadence for $2.55 million and then tending to its own worklist. A study showed the city would need to spend at least $800,000 to prepare the downtown location for police usage.
Aldermen planned to buy the building by offloading the former city hall and surplus lagoon space in north Starkville, but Ward 5 Alderman Scott Maynard said the excess property near Highway 12 will become more valuable to the city as the area develops.
Carl Smith covers Starkville and Oktibbeha County for The Dispatch. Follow him on Twitter @StarkDispatch
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