Amarillo City Hall may move to warehouse district

AMARILLO, Texas (KFDA) - The Amarillo City Council approved a contract that allows the city to buy property near Grant and Johnson street.

This proposal has been in the works for three years. Initially the proposed civic center and the relocation of city hall were to be attached on the November ballot.

Now however, the civic center will be voted on during the general election and the final decision on the relocation of city hall will be up to the council and finalized after the November election.

Mayor Ginger Nelson says the continuous repairs to the current building and cost efficiency drove this decision.

“Just seeing what our options were there, it was important to us to take an existing building," said Nelson "We thought that was a better use of taxpayer dollars and there were some cost efficiency to be gained by refurbishing an existing building vs buying a brand-new building.”

The Amarillo Hardware building is being considered as the primary location for city hall. If approved only part of it would be renovated to begin with.

According to the deputy city manager, renovating the hardware building would be cheaper than renovating the existing building.

The relocation would be about 12 million dollars as compared to renovations to the existing building which would cost from 17 to 39 million dollars.

The proposal also aims to preserve the buildings in the contract which city council members say have historical value to the city.

“So between that and the other historic buildings that will be saved, it is a major part of that strategic vision to make downtown more walk able, have more people working down here, and just really bring the center of our city back to life," said Beth Duke, executive director for Center City Amarillo

The proposal consists of a total of five properties and land all located at the warehouse district.

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