City Commission Settles On Design For New Dunedin City Hall

DUNEDIN, FL — After nearly a year of discussion, the Dunedin City Commission has settled on a design for the new Dunedin City Hall.

After whittling the design samples for the new building provided by Harvard Jolly Architects of St. Petersburg from seven to three, the commission agreed to the choice featuring a wave-shaped roof that extends onto an overhead main entrance canopy supported by pillars.

With input from residents, commissioners have been debating the final design of the 39,000-square-foot City Hall since last May when they agreed to construct it on the site of the existing site of the Technical Services and Municipal Services Building.

The complex will consolidate and replace the existing outdated city hall and technical and municipal services buildings with a new structure on city-owned property at 750 Milwaukee Ave., 737 Louden Ave. (known as the east parcel) and 500 Wood St. (the west parcel).

The new City hall will be built on the east parcel and a parking garage on the west parcel.

Additionally, the commission created two outparcels from the west parcel. One is for town home development to provide a buffer between the neighborhood to the south and the parking garage. The other parcel will front Highland Avenue and will be used for retail development.

The sale of the two outparcels will offset the $27.5 million cost of constructing the new city hall. The majority of the funding will come from the city's Penny for Pinellas fund.

The new city hall will include a one-story city commission chamber and a two-story administrative wing.

Frequently accessed public services will be available at a one-stop shop off the main lobby. from a One-Stop Shop off the main lobby.

In keeping with the city's environmental sustainability policy, commissioners agreed the new building should have large windows for natural light, be operated with solar power for energy-efficiency with a standby emergency generator and be constructed using renewable materials.

Design plans also include public art and a courtyard plaza on the corner of Louden Avenue and Virginia Street, shaded by the existing trees on the property.

At a March workshop, the commission will discuss the parking garage, downtown parking needs and the development of the two outparcels in more detail.

Harvard Jolly has proposed a 335-space, four-story parking garage with access from Highland Avenue. Commissioners want to include solar panels on the garage's roof at an additional cost of $2.5 million.