(KNSI) – After a year delay, St. Cloud could approve moving city hall to the old Tech High School on Monday.
The St. Cloud City council will vote on a resolution to demolish the part of the school built in 1961 and renovate and restore the 1917 and 1938 portions of the building.
St. Cloud Mayor Dave Kleis says it was important to people living in the neighborhood to keep the original parts of the building in use.
“We’ll keep the history and the heritage and keep it a public place. This will be City Hall. If all goes well, the council approves on Monday night, the bids and the transaction.”
The council chambers will be Tech’s former library and the auditorium will be used for public meetings and training.
Kleis says if the $11,512,725 plan is approved, the city hall could be moving to its new home before New Years’.
“We’ll close later this month. Demolition on part of this building and renovation will take place throughout the spring, the summer in the fall. And we’ll move in by the end of this year if all of those things take place.”
Kleis says the project was delayed because of the pandemic.
“Last year, we went through a process. We would have actually, if not for COVID-19, already been moved into this building with our city hall. We put that on pause. But we started that months ago.”
A new Tech High School opened in 2019, leaving the original school vacant.
In 2018, the St. Cloud Area School District entered into a Letter of Intent to transfer ownership of the old school property to St. Cloud.