Meredith Selectboard considering $8M new build for Town Hall

MEREDITH — Selectboard members know there is a need for more space for town offices, and staff of SMP Architecture presented a couple options on Monday afternoon, including a brand new building near the police station, or an expensive renovation and expansion that would keep the offices on Main Street.

Architects Jason LaCombe and Anthony Mento presented the conceptual designs, after taking measurements of existing spaces, as well as holding meetings with employees to talk about their needs since November. During the meeting, the selectboard gathered information, but no action was taken.

Renovation and removal of annex

The architects came up with two concepts. Concept 1 is to renovate the current Town Hall and remove the annex building, for an estimated cost of $14 million. This would involve building an addition above an underground parking garage, something they admitted seems awkward due to the small town atmosphere, but would be most feasible in this situation.

Currently, the Town Hall has two stories with a basement, with 3,924 usable square feet. Mento said the building, formerly a bank, is in “fair condition” but lacking several things. There are accessibility deficiencies, some fire separation issues, and lacks emergency egress.

The annex is three levels, with 3,860 usable square feet, and Mento said it does have “a lot of shortcomings” which would make renovation difficult.

“I think renovating that would be a significant undertaking, to bring it up to the codes required to serve as a municipal building,” Mento said, adding it can be done, but is not as financially feasible.

LaCombe said they looked at the existing town offices, and noted there isn’t a lot of land to work with. There is a steep slope, and Town Hall is lower than the annex. In order not to “deface Main Street,” the SMP proposal focused on retaining the Town Hall.

LaCombe told the board an “aspirational” proposal for expansion includes a three-level building, on a hillside, with a basement parking garage, because there is no parking on-site. He said this would be accessed across a neighboring property.

“That, I understand, could be a challenge,” LaCombe said. “We don’t know if the neighbor would even be open to it. Saying it publicly could upset them and, and if it does, I apologize. But again, that’s the aspirational aspect.”

Parking for the staff would be in a garage which leads directly into the main floor of Town Hall. In the back, a fire stairway, elevator, and lobby area would be accessed by the public from the front of the building through to the elevator. This would make it compliant with the Americans with Disabilities Act on all levels, he said.

The town clerk, assessing and welfare departments would be on the lower floor, and bathrooms and break rooms for staff, as well. The second level, where the town manager’s office is currently, would be expanded out across the roof of the current building onto what is roughly the elevation of the current parking lot.

“So, you’d be over the parking garage, and we’d make a second public entry lobby,” LaCombe said. “So, this is a building with two lobbies, on two levels, connected by a spine along with the elevator.”

The second floor would contain the selectboard meeting room, as well as the community development room.

The third floor would be the two-story piece where the annex currently sits. LaCombe said the rooflines would all be retained, and the impact on Main Street would be minimal. This is where the finance, human resources, and town manager offices would be.

LaCombe said this could be built without the parking garage, but some circulation patterns would need to be adjusted, and they would have to figure out where staff would park.

A positive, he said, is it maintains the village location. However, it would require emptying the building while the project is being done.

New build

A brand new building was presented as Concept A, with a preliminary cost estimate of $8.1 million.

LaCombe said the police station has extra not currently used, so SMP looked at that site. They obtained the original civil engineering drawings, which showed an anticipated second building.

“The original civil engineering plan had a second access point at this location, anticipating a future building in this area, so that’s what we did,” LaCombe said.

LaCombe proposed a two-story building with additional parking. If the project moved forward, the current dirt lot would be paved. This would create two lots, one with 34 spaces, and another with 21.

Coming in through a vestibule into a main lobby would access all public spaces, including community development, welfare, town clerk and the selectboard meeting room. There is a central stair and elevator off the lobby, and a small meeting room in the back.

“Very similar plan, more efficient,” LaCombe said.

On the second floor there will be a smaller lobby, another meeting room, and the town manager, finance, and HR departments. There would also be a small break room.

“From a development standpoint, this is significantly more compact than the expansion piece,” he said. “We just have more opportunities to hit the exact program for the space.”

LaCombe said one of the major challenges with this concept is it impacts the wetland buffer. He said this is roughly the same impact the police station had, but noted this was built almost 20 years ago.

Positives are the ability to sell three buildings to retain some money. The building would also have two public works offices, so the town would be able to sell Town Hall, the annex and the public works facility.

LaCombe also said there is the ability to create more parking, as the garage would create only 14 spaces. Overall, the new build would be “significantly” cheaper. The renovation would also take an estimated 18 months, and the new build is estimated to be a year or less.