Gilbert celebrates reopening of town hall

By Tom Blodgett
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Twitter: @sp_blodgett

Gilbert cut the ribbon Dec. 14 on its renovated town hall building, Municipal I. 

Intended to be one of three municipal buildings when first built in 1992, the building has strained to accommodate the growing number of employees with the town’s explosive growth and without a third building ever coming online, Mayor Brigette Peterson said. 

Led by Deputy Town Manager Mary Goodman, who spearheaded the project for Gilbert, the town opted to modernize the building and squeeze approximately 50 more workstations out of existing space rather than go to the expense of adding another building. 

Doing so added 1,700 square feet of working space to the 50,000-square-foot building, which not only extends the capacity but the life of the buildings, officials said. 

Enhancements also include increased accessibility and safety, infrastructure improvements to the HVAC systems, roofing, flooring and fixtures, and installation of climate control systems and window shades, according to the town. 

Design services were done by the architectural firm Gensler and the construction by Willmeng Construction. 

“It's a great day for Gilbert,” Goodman said at the ribbon-cutting ceremony. “As our former mayor, John Lewis, used to say, ‘What we do, we do together.’ … We hope that when you walk in the space, you'll find it to be a welcoming space. There's inspiration around each corner.” 

Staff will begin moving in Dec. 20 and the building should open to the public Dec. 22. A public open house will be held Jan. 10, the day of the first council meeting in the renovated council chambers. 

Town Manager Patrick Banger said the opening represents the culmination of a five-year journey but that the renovation had originally listed on the town’s capital improvement program 20 years ago as a means of maintaining its usefulness as a town hall.  The building had been closed for the renovations since June 2021.

“In there is a space that is really, truly special and one that is going to create a very collaborative environment for our community, for our elected officials, for our staff, for the new approach to work that the world is moving into with hybrid, flexible environments and environments that are built to create much more human, greater human connections and collaboration for the work we do,” he said. 

Note: The  story has been corrected to  update the date of staff move-in.

Tom Blodgett
Senior News Editor | Gilbert
@sp_blodgett

tblodgett@iniusa.org

Meet Tom
Tom Blodgett joined Independent Newsmedia, Inc., USA, in 2022, when the company acquired Community Impact Newspaper's Phoenix-area properties. Raised in Arizona, he has spent more than 35 years in journalism in the state.

Community: He has served as an instructional professional in the Walter Cronkite School of Journalism and Mass Communication since 2005, and is editorial adviser to The State Press, the university's independent student media outlet. He also is director of operations for an 18U girls fastpitch softball team from Gilbert.

Education: Arizona State University with a BS in Journalism. 

Random Fact: He lived in Belgium during his freshman year of high school.  

Hobbies: Tweeting enthusiastically about ASU softball (season-ticket holder) and grumpily about other local sports (pessimistic fan).