AUBURN – Officials should call Auburn Hall home sometime in late August.

That’s when the city expects construction crews to hand over the keys to the new city building, according to Assistant City Administrator Mark Adams.

Crews should be substantially finished by July 12, Adams said. That will leave them with punch-list jobs, such as installing a security system, testing the water and electrical systems, and finishing up last-minute repair jobs.

“I think we’ll probably be close to that date,” Adams said. “There might be a few things they haven’t wrapped up, like a sidewalk here or there and some carpeting or tiles.”

Final completion is scheduled for Aug. 12, Adams said. That’s when the city expects all of the lights to be working, the elevators to be tested and the certificate of occupancy to be signed.

“Then, they turn over the building to us, with everything working and cleaned,” Adams said.

The city is considering how much new furniture will be needed. A team is taking inventory of each piece of furniture in the current city building to find out what is worth moving and what isn’t.

“It’s a real hodgepodge,” Adams said. “Some of it hasn’t been updated in years.”

Councilors are scheduled to vote on a bond issue to buy new furniture for the building at the July 12 meeting. Staff should know then which furniture needs to be bought from a dealer.

Because the new space is larger, more furniture will be needed, Adams said. “And everything is arranged differently in the new building. Some pieces that work here won’t work in the new building.”

The new building will give the city nearly 55,000 square feet of space.

High-traffic city services – such as the city clerk’s office, tax payment, planning and permitting, and the city engineer’s office – will go on the first floor.

Council chambers and office space for city and school administrators will go on the second floor.

Personnel offices, general assistance and city finance staff will be on the third floor.

Work on the $7.9 million renovation began in January 2003.

It includes the historic Auburn Hall, which has been gutted and completely renovated, and a new building next door that is the same size and shape and it uses the same color brick.

A grand entrance will connect the two buildings in the front, and a second-story bridge to the new Mechanics Row parking garage will link them in the back.