Bristol City Hall Renovations Continue To Move Forward

By Dean Wright, The Bristol Press

July 27, 2022

With the physical exterior of city hall changing and further projects on the horizon for downtown, the Bristol Board of Public Works updated officials as to ongoing demolition and project progress with the structure.

“Up until at least this week, there has been a lot of demolition work,” said Public Works Department Director Ray Rogozinski. “This really is the week that a lot of new construction is ultimately scheduled.”

According to a memo shared with city officials, over 20 workers are on-site each day.

With the demolition of city hall’s front brick exterior, workers observed that brick and concrete block walls were not “tied structurally with the building’s substructure” and additional ties were set to be installed in mid-July. The eastern facade of the building will not require ties because much of the area is going to be covered in glass. Ties will be required on other parts of the building. A change order was approved by city council for the work in the amount of $45,000.

Abatement of the building is significantly completed and around $70,000 will be available from “asbestos contingency” to be utilized in other areas of the project.

Excavation of additional space around city hall was slated along with interior office space framing activities and HVAC support and hanger installation.

Among current projects the city will consider taking further action including details with the city council’s dais. The potential addition of more city council and Board of Finance members with charter revisions may require more seating. Officials are also debating the potential for placing two electric vehicle charging stations near the former tax window of city hall. On the third floor of the new building, architects will determine whether the addition of mobile partitioning equipment would allow for a staff lounge to be turned into a public event space.

Officials will determine stair and tile finishes at an upcoming tour for the Public Works Department. Public Works is also set to speak with a fire marshal about the potential of relocating a nearby fire hydrant.

Scheduled meetings with an audio-visual consultant and Public Works are set to consider visual conferencing equipment within city hall. A proposal of around $752,000 was prepared by a designer for such needs. Allocations, according to the memo, allow for around $250,000 towards the project, however, officials anticipate money will not be utilized in other portions of the city hall build project and can be dedicated elsewhere.

Public Works is also requesting architects to share their opinions on the potential addition of a service window to the mayor’s office area of the new city hall as many other departments have similar spaces dedicated to meeting with residents in halls.