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Provo preparing to open new city hall building

By Genelle Pugmire - | Jun 30, 2022
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The new Provo City Hall is shown Thursday, June 30, 2022.
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Daniel Vogel, help desk manager with Provo City, moves computers from the old Provo city office to the new building on Thursday, June 30, 2022.
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The old Provo city office is seen from the fourth floor of the new building on Thursday, June 30, 2022.
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Daniel Vogel, help desk manager with Provo City, moves computers from the old Provo city office to the new building on Thursday, June 30, 2022.
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A sign thanking Provo Mayor Michelle Kaufusi hangs on the wall of the old mayor's office on Thursday, June 30, 2022. Almost everything has been moved already from the mayor's office to the new city hall building.

Close your eyes and think back four years or more, when you could get your tires rotated or purchase new ones on the corner of Center Street and 500 West in Provo.

While you waited for the tire service you could walk next door to Rocky Mountain Drive-in and grab a cheeseburger and fries. For decades, those businesses were part of the 500 West entrance to downtown.

That all changed in November 2018, when Provo residents voted for a $69 million bond to replace the structurally-failing city hall located on the other end of the block, the attached police station and Fire Station 2 on Canyon Road.

It’s kind of the tale of two cities — out with the old and in with the new. The change comes as Provo, along with the rest of the country, is dealing with an increased cost of living, construction and food. With all that is happening, the new city hall was still needed.

After years of construction and design, residents will be ‘welcomed home’ on Saturday to their new five-story, 204,000-square-foot city building featuring a coordinated public safety center, including fire and police administration and a state-of-the-art emergency operations center.

“My first question after taking office was how citizens could be served better. Most concerning was the characterization of our current public safety facility as a ‘building in failure,'” Mayor Michelle Kaufusi said. “Our priority is to keep citizens safe, so not heeding the advice of the police and fire chief wasn’t an option. We needed a city hall capable of meeting Provo’s public safety needs — and we are grateful to our citizens who also saw the need.”

Police Department

Former Police Chief Rich Ferguson noted much-needed improvements in the new city hall, including a private lobby for crime victims, a secure evidence room and in-house crime lab.

The Emergency Operations Center was located between the Police, Fire and Legal departments, with additional space provided for partners needed during crisis, including Red Cross, Dominion Energy, Brigham Young University and others.

“Provo City Hall was designed as an ‘essential facility,’ meaning it must remain in continuous use, particularly in response to a natural disaster,” said project director Scott Henderson. “To meet these stringent requirements, it was designed per the highest risk category prescribed by the building code. In short, when or if a disaster strikes, we can remain operational for our citizens.”

Fire Department

“In addition to expanded public safety services in Provo City Hall, the approved bond also funded Fire Station 2,” said Provo Fire Chief Jim Miguel. “This state-of-the-art facility, completed in September 2020, was the first new fire station built in 20 years and will serve north Provo well for the next 60 years.”

Henderson said the new city hall was built with safety, service and community in mind.

“This beautiful building will architecturally improve Provo government and create more efficient and responsive services for our citizens,” he said.

The Need

The existing Provo City complex was built in 1972. When it was originally constructed, Provo had a population of 45,000 residents — today it has more than tripled. Faced with serving and protecting a growing population, upgrading the current facilities was not an option due to its dilapidated condition, which included:

  • Unable to withstand a moderate earthquake.
  • Too small for operational needs of Provo’s population.
  • Did not provide flexibility, efficiency or convenience for citizen service delivery.
  • Required a significant, costly investment to further occupy.
  • Now this new multi-level facility will be environmentally sound, large enough to grow into, have current technology and ability to expand, and much more.

While most of the city offices have moved into the new building, there are some high-tech fitting and preparations that need to be made before the City Council can hold meetings in the new community room. The first council meeting in the new location will be Aug. 9.

As part of the many festivities going this weekend with America’s Freedom Festival at Provo, the city hall will have a ribbon cutting and open house for residents from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. Saturday at 445 W. Center Street (directly across from Pioneer Park). The grand opening ceremony will be from 11 to 11:30 a.m. with the ‘Provology’ Building Tour from 11:30 a.m. until 1 p.m.

The event is free and members of the public are encouraged to attend and see the new building.

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