As officials in Stockton, California, prepare to move out of their current City Hall, they want residents’ help in deciding the fate of the historic, but crumbling, building.
The El Dorado Street property where City Hall is currently located is defined by an elegant row of white columns. Unfortunately, “many of the building materials used in the 1926 construction are now known to be hazardous,” Stockton City Manager Kurt Wilson wrote in a recent op-ed for The Record. “In addition to triggering ADA accessibility and seismic retrofit requirements, repairing the building would disrupt the dormant condition of those materials, requiring extensive, and expensive, mitigation efforts.”
City officials are in the process of moving to a building on Main Street, according to the city manager. With that in mind, the city wants to hear from residents about what should be done with the current City Hall, which will be preserved but, obviously, has some constraints. The building was once a courthouse and police department, complete with a holding cell and gun room.
“Should it be public or private, office or residential, museum or something completely different?” Wilson asked.
The move to Main Street may be underway, but the timeline isn’t clear, according to a report from The Record.
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