I saw in the news that the mayoral candidates are really going at it over this new city hall project. Why is building a new city hall such a big deal, and what's actually wrong with the building we have now on Main Street?

Well, this has been brewing for decades, honestly. The current city hall is in what used to be the Lafayette Hotel, built back in nineteen twenty, and when the government bought it in nineteen eighty-two, it was supposed to be temporary. Since then, Lexington's population has grown by almost sixty percent and our government staff by nearly forty percent, but the workplace has stayed the same. Mayor Gorton works in a room with no windows, many employees don't have windows, they have leaky roofs, and the city spent three million taxpayer dollars a couple years ago just to replace three elevators because they couldn't get parts.

Three million just for elevators? That sounds like a money pit. What would it actually cost to fix versus building new?

That's exactly the heart of the debate. In twenty nineteen, a report showed it would cost more than five million to fix the current government center, but that number is now closer to fifty-five million, and that would only cover basic upkeep and code issues with no improvements to efficiency, accessibility, or the workplace environment. The council narrowly approved a one hundred fifty-two point five million dollar contract with the Lexington Opportunity Fund in December. The city will pay thirty million upfront, then lease the building on West Vine Street for three point five million annually for thirty-five years. Candidates like Darnell Tagaloa are saying we don't need a new building, while Raquel Carter is asking if we really have thirty million to put into a new building right now, and whether this is the right time.

So it's really about timing and priorities more than the building itself?

Exactly. Some candidates like C.E. Huffman are calling it the worst government boondoggle they've ever seen, saying nobody wanted this project. But after forty-plus years in a temporary building that's literally falling apart, this might finally be the moment when Lexington gets a permanent home for city government.

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