Village Hall Remodeling Design Unveiled

Ridgewood's village council on Wednesday took its first gander on what a redesigned first floor of may look like.

The village has been moving slowly in transforming its bare first floor since and ousted community groups from the main municipal building.

Incorporating two different types of conrete blocks and marble in the main entrance, Village Manager Ken Gabbert said the costs initially pegged at about could escalate to around $375,000 when accounting for new doors, tiles and other work.

Under questioning from resident Roger Wiegand, who wondered if just re-doing sheetrock might be the better option in terms of costs, Mayor Keith Killion maintained the option to stick with sheetrock just wasn't on the table.

Killion said the building "will be around for quite some time" and face flood waters throughout its future. Continually re-doing sheetrock, while cheaper in the near-term, Killion said, would likely be costlier after a few flood events.

It's a stance consistent with the council's message throughout the plans to remodel Village Hall – "let's do it right this time."

Officials project the work to be completed sometime in the summer of 2012.

Take a look at the pictures posted – what do you think of the architectural drawings?