Moorhead City Council

Nancy Edmonds Hanson

The Moorhead City Council took the second step Monday to redesign and remodel the ground floor of City Hall. It approved an agreement to hire JLG Architects to provide artchitectural and engineering services for the design and construction phases of renovating the civic headquarters, soon to stand alone as the remaining portion of the Center Mall is demolished around it.
JLG representative Rob Remark noted that the initial study of the feasibility and economy of remodeling the first floor of the structure was completed by his firm earlier this year. Their recommendations support the concept of replacing the ground floor – now an open atrium at the heart of the 50-plus-year-old downtown mall – with a public area where residents can pay their bills and meet with city officials.
Staff members will remain in offices on the upper floors of the building. Additional work space will be secured by removing the public-facing lobbies on each off the four upper floors. The public will no longer have to use the two elevators to reach the city offices.
Remark was questioned by council members Deb White and Heather Nesemeier about whether more public comments will be invited as plans develop for the plaza area that will ultimately surround the structure. He assured them that input was in the plans, but well into the future. The firm’s immediate focus, he said, is on the schematic design of the spaces where the city’s staff will be quartered when the remaining part of the shopping mall is demolished.