Auburn officials get a closer look inside Auburn Hall
Leaders plan to move offices into the building by the end of summer.
AUBURN – The walls are up and the heat’s on. Ducts and wires coil along the ceilings. Orange primer covers the rooms and plastic tarps seal the windows.
The $7.9 million renovation of Auburn Hall is nearing completion.
The remaining work in the downtown building – the new city and school offices – is likely to take no more than four months, said Mark Adams, Auburn’s assistant city manager.
Adams led city councilors on a tour of the four-story structure Monday, showing off nearly 55,000 square feet of space.
They walked across the bridge that joins the new parking garage to the hall, across a new lobby area, inside the new council chambers and onto new conference rooms that will stretch out above Court Street.
The tour began outside, looking up at the gray, tile roof. It’s not what it seems.
What appear to be tiles are actually made of individual pieces of rubber, Adams said. These last longer.
“From 50 feet down here, there’s no way to tell that’s not actual slate,” Adams said.
It’s not the only optical illusion.
Outside, the massive slabs of granite which adorn the entrances are actually made of concrete, mixed and shaped to appear like cut stone.
Savings ran into “tens of thousands of dollars,” Adams said.
Of course, the project cost enough, already.
Work began in April of 2003, clearing away the remnants of the old hall and the buildings that sat next door. Since then, workers have built floors where none existed in the old building and built a four-story addition. The faux granite towers on the front and back were erected along the seam.
Inside, however, the seam is invisible. Rooms and hallways flow from one building to another.
“It’s just huge,” Mayor Normand Guay said, walking through the first floor area where tax collector booths will be set up.
Leaders hope to limit about 80 percent of all public traffic to the first floor, where people can pay taxes, get a building permit, buy a fishing license or register to vote.
On the second floor, leaders including the city manager and school superintendent will have their offices. That’s also where the Council Chambers will be.
The third floor will house general assistance and special education office, among others.
About half of the fourth floor will remain empty, unfinished until someday when the space is needed.
“This is a 75- to 100-year building,” Adams said.
The remainder of the floor will have an employee lunch room and a combined finance department.
“This space is worth the price of the building,” said Councilor Richard Livingston, walking through the area that will soon run the accounting for both the city and the schools. Purchase orders will be created, pay checks will be printed and vendors will be paid. The jobs have traditionally been done by separate staffs.
After workers complete the renovation by early July, technicians will install telephones and computers, Adams said.
Some offices could begin the move immediately after, though plans are still tentative.
The building could be fully occupied by the end of August.
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