When all is said and done, Alexandria’s City Council may conduct city business on the ground floor of the renovated City Hall.
That’s just one of the many proposed changes to the 150-year-old building and Market Square at 301 King Street heading to the city’s Board of Architectural Review on April 16 (Wednesday).
The Council has been doing business on the second floor in Council Chambers for 75 years, and it’s been nearly 60 years since the buildings in front of City Hall were razed to make way for Market Square. Architect Leo A. Daly drew up renderings of the reimagined 85,000-square-foot property, which reveal a completely renovated building, a rebuilt underground parking garage, a new Market Square plaza, and streetscape improvements.
Moving Council Chambers downstairs drew criticism from City Councilman John Taylor Chapman.
“Was supportive at first, but not anymore — keep the council chambers where it is,” Chapman said on Facebook.
The public had until March 23 to complete a survey on draft concepts.
The city said in its concept review that relocating Council Chambers has “direct implications of the ground floor civic space and the ability to secure the building for staff. ”
“The unique challenge of this project is to leverage a major investment in City Hall and Market Square to re-conceptualize the role that the historic building and open space can play in the life of the City,” the city said in its submission to the BAR.
Plans also call for the construction of dedicated event and meeting spaces on the fifth floor of the building, including an outdoor terrace with views of Old Town.
“The space planning will balance civic functions, event programming, and flexible pop-up event areas to maximize usability and engagement,” according to the concept review.
According to the city:
A goal of this project will be to restore historic integrity where possible, and to clearly distinguish the original structure from the non-historic later additions, allowing the public to interpret and celebrate the original building. This allows the non-historic additions to read as structures of their own time. We will accomplish this on the historic structure by restoring original window and door configurations, restoring roof shingling patterns, researching and re-establishing original paint colors, repairing existing historic fabric and character defining features, repointing and cleaning of the stone and masonry and removal of non-historic roof top additions.
The city wants construction to start in 2026 and wrap in 2028.
