At the start of March, the West Jordan City Hall reinstated all services after being closed for major renovations, making the building more open and usable to city workers and residents. 

“We are delighted to invite residents back to our city building,” said Mayor Dirk Burton. “West Jordan City Hall is now open and here to serve the community.”

Since the building opened 30 years ago on June 25, 1993, it hasn’t undergone any major renovations until now and needed updates to keep up with current safety regulations. 

“Standards, as far as code, changes a lot in a couple years let alone 30 years,” said Marie Magers, West Jordan’s Public Information Manager. 

After closing on May 2, 2022, the renovation experienced delays pushing back the  reopening just shy of two years later. 

“Due to the enduring manufacturing challenges caused by COVID-19, numerous aspects, including our project, faced setbacks,” Jamie Davidson, Assistant City Administrator, told The City Journals. A big setback Davidson said was the requirement for “custom-made electric panels.”

Without further delay, the interior is all up to current code and safety regulations, making it more accessible than ever. Improvements to the building’s foyer include a new main staircase design, chandelier, passport office and front reception desk to help with usability for city staff and residents.

The grand staircase’s footprint was changed to open to the left of the door and narrowed to take up less space. 

“[The renovation] allowed space in the lobby for someone to welcome visitors to the City and direct them where they need to go,” said Tangee Sloan, the City Recorder. 

Above the staircase where the original chandelier was placed in 1993, hangs a new one.

Once described as “sparkling,” the old chandelier no longer fit that description due to the difficulty it was for workers to clean it.

“Sadly, our facility crews faced challenges reaching it, even risking their safety just to change a lightbulb,” said Magers.

Over the years with the inaccessibility to properly clean the light fixture, it was retired and recycled during renovations.

A new chandelier hangs where the old once was and is equipped with a pulley system to allow workers to safely clean and maintain it.

Also on the main level is a new community room meant to be a “gathering place” for the community “to support elections and other community gathering events,” making the building even more useful to residents, said Sloan.

To the left of the main entrance is a new passport office with a separate entrance that will expand service hours, she said.

The larger space will allow the office to help multiple people at once and will be the spotlight of a new quarterly event called “Passport Palooza” offered by the city. More information on the event will be available in April.

“Our newly renovated passport office is amazing,” Sloan said.

All services back up and running at city hall include the mayor’s, city council, economic development, planning, building and safety, code enforcement, business licensing, human resources, city attorney and passport offices.

“City Hall belongs to our residents and is a place they should be proud to represent their city,” Sloan said. λ