The East Peoria City Council got an update on the latest numbers to build a new city hall or renovate the current site. New estimates say it would cost half-a-million-dollars to spruce up the aging building where it stands, while building a new hall in the Levee district is one-point-seven million. East Peoria Mayor Dave Mingus says the city needs to take action soon, regardless of the final choice:
“We have to realize that this was an old grocery store and we’ve really made do with it for decades. It’s just come to a point where the city not only has outgrown it, but the structure has deteriorates to the point where its going to take a lot of money to fix it. It might be worth it, we have to really study that. A nice modest city hall for our citizens is certainly another alternative that merits study as well,” Mingus says.
The City already has someone willing to buy the old city hall site for 450-thousand-dollars. That’s Jeff Graves. He owns the adjacent Community plaza Shopping Center. City officials say selling the old building, using capital building dollars and selling the library property could pay for the majority of the new project. The City is still refining its cost estimates with the architect.