Article published February 11, 2007
BLUFFTON
Village hall prepared for $3.5M facelift
New tax will pay for renovation
The Bluffton town hall is 120 years old. Citizens circulated an initiative petition to raise funds to preserve it.
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THE BLAE/ALLAN DETRICH
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By JENNIFER FEEHAN
BLADE STAFF WRITER
BLUFFTON - When Village Council couldn't agree on whether to build new or renovate the old town hall, a group of residents took the matter into their hands.
They got an initiative petition on the ballot to save the 120-year-old building and asked voters to pay for it with a 10-year, 0.25 percent income tax. It passed, much to the relief of people like Bob Amstutz, who wanted the best-known building in Bluffton to remain standing.
"It's a landmark in Bluffton," Mr. Amstutz said. "It had been on our telephone book cover. It's just a unique building for Bluffton, and it would've been a shame to lose it."
More than a year after the measure was approved, architectural drawings for the renovation are now complete. Village Administrator Jamie Mehaffie said the village hopes to go out for bids later this month so the project can begin in the spring.
Mr. Mehaffie said he expects the renovation to cost around $3.5 million - a bill that will be paid for with revenue from the new income tax as well as about $750,000 that the village had saved over the past several years in anticipation of either building a new town hall or renovating the old one.
"We'll be completely gutting the interior, removing all three floors," Mr. Mehaffie said. "The inside will be completely redone, but the exterior of the building will be preserved."
Bluffton architect Bob Neff, standing with some of his plans in the crowded village offi ces, was hired by the village to design the town hall renovations. The exterior facade will remain.
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THE BLADE/ALLAN DETRICH
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The project was never billed as a historic restoration. Mr. Amstutz said that while that would have been ideal, it was not feasible and there was not a lot of valuable architectural features left inside anyway.
Bluffton architect Bob Neff, who was hired by the village to design the "new" town hall, figures the building underwent at least five different renovations and additions over the years, leaving it with a mish-mash of floor elevations and ceiling heights.
"The first floor has areas where it's concrete slab on grade. Another area is elevated. There's a crawl space in part of it, and part of the building had a dirt floor," he said.
Under the new plan, the first floor will have a public lobby and restrooms that are accessible 24 hours a day. Village offices, including utilities, tax, and administration, will be on the first floor, while the police department will take over the entire second floor.
Until recently, the second floor had been leased to the local American Legion post and used for Boy Scout meetings. The third floor, which was added to the building by the Odd Fellows organization, had been condemned and unused because of its deteriorated condition.
Mr. Neff said under the new plan, the third floor will retain its towering 15-foot ceilings, and, if the budget allows, hard-wood flooring, wood trim, and a period-style chandelier will set off the council chambers, which will double as a community meeting room.
Bluffton Police Chief Rick Skilliter said his department will enjoy a serious upgrade in facilities.
"We're currently operating in what is essentially two offices with a small, third cubbyhole area where our blood-alcohol machine is located and then evidence had been stored in the back garage," he said.
The garage, which was not original to the building, already has been removed.
When the renovation is complete, the police department will have new offices as well as a work area for officers, a records room, two interview rooms, a room for blood-alcohol testing, and a climate-controlled evidence storage area.
While the offices will be modern, it is the building's facade that seems most valuable to the 3,900 people who live in the college town that straddles the Hancock-Allen County line just west of I-75. With a stately clock tower atop its third floor, the brick building stands out in the quaint downtown.
Still, saving a building just because people appreciate it isn't always easy. Seneca County, which is planning to demolish its old downtown courthouse and build a new county office building, asked voters in 2002 for a 0.25 percent sales tax to renovate the neglected building, but the measure was defeated.
"Basically, it's clear to me voters want something done, but they don't want taxes raised. You have to do it within the budget you have," Seneca County Commissioner Ben Nutter said recently.
Bluffton actually debated the issue of renovation versus new construction for years before the initiative petition was placed on the ballot in November, 2005.
Chief Skilliter, who has lived in Bluffton for 18 years, said he wasn't surprised it passed.
"For outsiders it might seem strange in this day and age that a community on its own would initiate raising taxes for this cause, but if you know the folks here and the value they place on the building and history, it's not," he said.
John Murray, a third-generation resident of Bluffton, said he's grateful the community chose to keep its old town hall.
"I'm 70. I was born here in Bluffton," Mr. Murray said. "A lot of things have changed over the years, but that's one thing that's not going to change for another 100 years."
Contact Jennifer Feehan at:
jfeehan@theblade.com
or 419-353-5972.
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