Costs to build a city hall and library in Midlothian are growing fast in the Dallas exurb, where the population doubled in the past decade.
Voters approved a $25 million bond for the project last year, but city officials now expect the actual cost to be about 30 percent higher, due to rising construction costs in Texas. The project is intended to draw commercial and residential development to the historic downtown.
Midlothian, less than 30 miles from Dallas and Fort Worth, will begin construction in February on a 52,000-square-foot city hall and public library combination. Midlothian City Council is expected to approve a final budget in January, according to Clyde Melick, assistant city manager.
The city hall will span about 36,000 square feet, and the library will have about 16,000 feet, including a children’s area and activity space.
Council chambers will have more seating and improved audiovisual technology.
The city also purchased about 45,000 square feet of vacant retail space downtown, as part of a master plan that aims to draw new development.
“When I say vacant, it has been vacant for probably three decades,” Melick said. “There was big public involvement, public outreach with this downtown master plan, and the number one priority was getting those active.”
The current city hall is a “labyrinth,” Melick said. The building was originally a clothing factory that was later repurposed as a police station. The library has shared space with Midlothian High School since the 1980s, when the population was around 3,000.
The city is now home to more than 37,000 people, and Melick said he hopes this project will put Midlothian on the map.
“There’s a market here, and we’re kind of catching up to the northern metroplex,” he said. “People down here are hungry for amenities that we’re going to be providing here in downtown Midlothian.”
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