Spring Break
Municipal Building plans will include open forums
Kara Porvasnik
Issue date: 8/28/07 Section: Community
Uptown Oxford has gotten a bit crowded-at least in the Municipal Building. The city taking additional steps in looking at the details of moving the facilities in the current building to two separate locations, due to overcrowding.
The current Municipal Building, located at 101 E. High Street, can no longer hold all of its employees. The 11,900 square feet in the present building doesn't come close to the 41,000 square feet needed, according to Oxford Vice Mayor Prue Dana.
"The city had a study done of all the functions taking place in the Municipal Building to see how much room we needed," Dana said. "Right now everyone is literally working on top of each other."
Dana also said that the city has determined it will need to build two different buildings to house all the workers currently packed Municipal Building, and this need stems from Oxford's current zoning codes.
Oxford zoning codes state that no building can exceed 45 feet high. Based on their current needs for extra space, one building would need to be at least four stories high, which is not legal by code standards, Dana said.
The first of the two new Municipal Buildings would be built where the current one stands, once the building is demolished. The second building would be a new Justice Center, to be built on a parking lot on the corner of Main and Church streets. The Justice Center will be home for the Oxford city police and a new court facility.
The Municipal Building currently houses offices for the Oxford administration as well as offices for community development, finance, service and police departments. These departments will remain in the new Municipal Building, except for the police department. Sgt.
John Buchholz of the Oxford Police Department said the new building would.
The current Municipal Building, located at 101 E. High Street, can no longer hold all of its employees. The 11,900 square feet in the present building doesn't come close to the 41,000 square feet needed, according to Oxford Vice Mayor Prue Dana.
"The city had a study done of all the functions taking place in the Municipal Building to see how much room we needed," Dana said. "Right now everyone is literally working on top of each other."
Dana also said that the city has determined it will need to build two different buildings to house all the workers currently packed Municipal Building, and this need stems from Oxford's current zoning codes.
Oxford zoning codes state that no building can exceed 45 feet high. Based on their current needs for extra space, one building would need to be at least four stories high, which is not legal by code standards, Dana said.
The first of the two new Municipal Buildings would be built where the current one stands, once the building is demolished. The second building would be a new Justice Center, to be built on a parking lot on the corner of Main and Church streets. The Justice Center will be home for the Oxford city police and a new court facility.
The Municipal Building currently houses offices for the Oxford administration as well as offices for community development, finance, service and police departments. These departments will remain in the new Municipal Building, except for the police department. Sgt.
John Buchholz of the Oxford Police Department said the new building would.
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