Back in 1980, when St. George City Hall was dedicated, Jimmy Carter was running the country, the U.S. men’s hockey team snagged Olympic gold, and kids were dropping quarters into the new Pac-Man game at arcades.
Our town had a population of roughly 11,350 people and about 100 full-time city employees holding the fort. Fast forward to today, and you’ll see St. George is bustling with over 100,000 residents and a robust city workforce surpassing 800 full-timers.
My, how times have changed.
In progress right now on Main Street is the new City Hall at Town Square building. Located across the street from the City’s signature park, Historic Town Square, the new city offices will consist of three levels over a space of approximately 72,000 square feet.
“City Hall has served us well for more than four decades, but now we have a population of just over 100,000,” says Mayor Michele Randall. “We owe it to our residents to serve them the best way possible, and in this case we are investing in a new building.”
City Hall at Town Square will provide added space to accommodate that growth. In addition to the increased size—twice as much square feet as the current building— it includes the following features:
- Increases the capacity of the Council Chambers from 150 persons to 300, and can be easily converted to a community room, a training center and space for public forums.
- A ground-level indoor civic space consisting of 4,350 square feet that may be programmed for civic events and provide opportunities for art installations and informative exhibits.
- An atrium that allows a covered walking space to and from the new parking structure. It also gives access to Town Square, St. George Tabernacle, the Dixie Academy building and other local businesses.
- The parking structure will triple the number of parking spaces that are available at the current city hall building with 290 parking stalls. It will be open seven days a week.
- An outdoor plaza along 100 South may serve as an extension for events taking place at Town Square.
- 1,000 porcelain tiles painted by St. George residents will be part of a 12- by 24-foot mural to be installed in the new City Hall.
“High-efficiency, productivity, necessity, transparency and functionality have been major drivers in designing the new City Hall,” Mayor Randall says. “City Hall belongs to the people, so with that in mind the facility will have an open, clean, well-lit, safe and friendly environment that the community will easily identify as welcoming and open to all.”
The cost of the project is $45 million, with $20 million being funded in sales tax and municipal building authority bonds. The other $25 million is money in the city’s capital projects fund along with enterprise funds.
The old City Hall will be taken over by the St. George Police Department, who will utilize the space for training and offices to augment their headquarters up the hill at 265 North 200 East.
The new City Hall building is scheduled to be completed in October 2025, and the whole community will be invited to participate in the official opening on a date to be determined.
David Cordero serves as the Communications and Marketing Director for the City of St. George.