Bel Air Town Hall Renovation Project To Begin

BEL AIR, MD — Parking will be limited behind the Bel Air Town Hall once equipment starts arriving next week a major undertaking to renovate the building.

Whiting-Turner will begin putting in silt fencing and stormwater management around Dec. 6, according to Bel Air Director of Planning Kevin Small.

While erosion and sediment control measures may start being installed next week, "it's likely going to be January" when the "heavy work begins," Small said. Because it is a construction project, he noted: "There's a lot of variables."

Crews will be preparing the site on Hickory Avenue for the $10.4 million construction project to renovate the Bel Air Town Hall and Bel Air Police Department.

As a result, the parking lot will be restricted, meaning the parking spots for staff and members of the public will no longer be available.

“We lose the parking lot in the back" of Town Hall except for about seven spaces that will remain for the use of police, Town Administrator Jesse Bane told the commissioners at a work session Tuesday, Nov. 30.

The town commissioners will no longer have access to their conference room either, and the finance department will move to the town clerk's office, Bane said.

For evening meetings, the commissioners can meet at Town Hall, but during the daytime, "We're going to have to find alternate locations," according to Bane.

"We’re trying to organize this as best we can,” Bane said, adding it will be "an inconvenience for everyone."

Said Bane: "We’re talking in excess of a year."

The construction contract was signed this fall, 15 years after the town of Bel Air first began studying ways to update its police station.

Its current physical space — which is under Town Hall on Hickory Avenue — presents challenges for staffing, storing evidence and keeping detainees. It is also out of compliance with the Americans with Disabilities Act and does not meet law enforcement accreditation standards.

Studies for the Bel Air Police Department space were conducted in 2006, 2009 and 2018.

Finance Director Lisa Moody said that the federal government had given the town about $10 million through the American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA), which provided $130 billion for local governments around the country.

About $3.8 million of the funds for Bel Air will go toward renovation of the police station, Moody said.

Related:

• Bel Air To Spend $10.4M On Town Hall, Police Station Construction
• Bel Air Town Hall Renovation Project Marks Milestone