Walnut Creek gets serious about town hall
By Matt Shaw
Published in News on February 28, 2005 1:48 PM
WALNUT CREEK -- Plans for a new Town Hall were unveiled last week for the Village Council.
At the council's Feb. 23 meeting, Grim and Taylor Hobbs of Partin-Hobbs Architects explained the layout, design and landscaping for the proposed administrative offices.
The proposal is for an expandable, nearly 4,000-square-foot building that would house the council's chambers, the police department and offices for the manager, clerk and mayor, the last also doubling as a conference room.
It would be on the same Village Drive property as the current offices and the village's well.
The council agreed to allow the architects to proceed with detailed drawings.
The village has been planning for a new town hall since at least 1997, when work began on the site plan, Grim Hobbs said. Plans for the building began in earnest last year.
The design has been fine-tuned with the input of town staff, Grim Hobbs said. "There's a lot going on in this building and it's very tight, but it works."
The council's chambers would seat up to 50 people, he said.
The police department would have a separate entrance and would include a receptionist desk and waiting area, an office for the chief, an interview room and a vault for securing property.
The exterior of the building would have "a craftsmen feel," Taylor Hobbs said. It would be a brick building with some wood elements. There would be 400 square feet of covered porch space outside the lobby, which would have a vaulted ceiling with skylights.
"This will be a well-lit area, an inviting place," he said.
There is no timetable for the building's construction. The village had budgeted money for the plans but not yet for construction. When the second set of drawings is complete, the architects will be able to estimate how much it will cost to build the project.