New Republic City Hall gets finishing touches

Office numbers have just been posted at the new Republic City Hall, replacing handwritten digits on Post-its.

These are the little details that are wrapping up interior work at the building, where city workers have been situated since December.

The paint is fresh, there’s new art on office walls and the carpet is pristine. On a recent visit, someone was working on a lighting fixture in Republic City Council chambers at the heart of the building, making ready for the first meeting on the premises on Feb. 3.

The building adjoins the 27,000-square-foot Builds facility that was completed in 2024 to house the Community Development and Public Works departments to provide one-stop convenience for development and construction-related projects.

In the 16,000-square-foot City Hall, located at 4221 S. Wilson’s Creek Blvd., there are 25 administrative offices, three conference rooms and a council chambers that is expandable to hold up to 175 people for city functions. Departments include Administration, the City Clerk, Data Analytics, Finance, Human Resources, Information Technology and Legal, according to Buxton Kubik Dodd Design Collective, project architect. The cost was approximately $5.5 million, according to past Springfield Business Journal reporting.

Previously, the workers who now operate out of the new City Hall were spread over four separate locations, according to Finance Director Bob Ford.

“This is an ideal scenario for us,” said Ford, noting that bringing everyone together in one place makes it easy to collaborate. “It makes it fairly easy for us to walk down the hall and meet with our Public Works brethren, as opposed to getting in the car or on a Zoom call.”

It’s easier for city residents, too, said Lisa Addington, the city’s chief of staff and director of Human Resources. They can handle permitting, utility billing and questions and other needs without making multiple trips.

Addington said the council chambers can accommodate an all-hands meeting by pulling back a movable wall.

“It was really important to us that we could all meet in one location and not have to rent a venue,” she said.

When everyone assembles in the enlarged council room, they’ll see gunmetal gray walls and furniture in a creamy acorn squash color – a muted version of the official orange and black colors of Republic High School, which is across a farm field from the building.

Addington is now looking to get people into the new building to see the finished product. She said an open house is planned for late February to introduce the community to the building, and an all-city huddle will take place before that.

The general contractor for the project was Crossland Construction Co. Inc., Addington said the company was great to work with, starting construction in March 2025 and finishing on schedule for a December move-in.

“They were phenomenal,” she said. “They worked hard, and they took no shortcuts.”

Engineers were Own Inc., civil; Miller Engineering LLC, structural; and Buxton Kubik Dodd, mechanical, electrical and plumbing.