Months late and almost a million dollars over budget, Morinville’s new town hall is now mostly open for business.
Morinville’s town and library staff moved back into St. Germain Place last weekend. The town office re-opened there on Tuesday.
The town office and library had been crammed into the Parish Hall since July 2011 to make room for what was supposed to be a six-month, $2.8 million renovation of St. Germain Place. That renovation still isn’t done, and is now slated to cost about $4 million.
Town and library staff spent about two full days over the weekend hauling everything back to St. Germain from the Parish Hall, said Debbie Oyarzun, the town’s chief administrative officer.
“Desks, files, chairs, everything,” she said.
The second floor town office was still a mess of boxes and furniture as of Monday afternoon, but Oyarzun said the renovations are essentially done.
“It’s just a matter of moving in,” she said.
The library, in contrast, still needs more work, said library manager Isabelle Cramp.
“As it is right now, we are closed for two weeks,” she said.
Oyarzun gave the Gazette an impromptu tour of the renovated town office Monday.
The new office is much more open, with fewer walls and more lights, she noted. The result is a much brighter second floor that bears little resemblance to the dark, cramped one of old.
Residents visiting the second floor will now exit the elevator to find themselves in a large laminate-floor lobby containing a semi-circular reception desk. The council chambers will be to their left, while Mayor Lloyd Bertschi’s new, smaller office will be tucked behind reception.
“We’ve downsized him,” Oyarzun joked.
The council chamber itself has significantly more room for guests than the old one, as well as bigger windows and a new, arch-shaped council table atop a foot-tall dais. The chambers won’t be ready until August, Oyarzun said, as staffers need time to test all the electronics. (Council’s next few meetings will be held at the Community Cultural Centre.)
Crews are finishing the panelling, wiring, lighting, painting and shelving in the library downstairs this week, Cramp said. Staff had originally planned to open the program room on Monday, but it wasn’t ready on time.
“Right now, everything is in boxes,” she said.
Cramp said anyone who has materials checked out from the library should hold onto them for the next two weeks and return them when the library opens. Any late fees will be waived.
Library staffers are excited to be in their new digs, Cramp said, and are very happy with the result of the renovation.
“People, when they come into the building, especially when they come into the library, they will be very pleased with the space,” she said.
Council has yet to set a date for a grand opening of the building, Oyarzun said.
