By Erin Dixon | [email protected]

The West Jordan city hall on 8000 South Redwood Road was built in 1993, almost 30 years ago. Officials and staff who work inside think it is time for an update.

“There’s a lot of things we need to bring up to ADA compliance and city code and building codes,” Chief Administrative Officer Korban Lee said. “Particularly, some of the mechanical and electrical is out of compliance with our current codes.” 

The building is also more expensive to maintain in its current state. 

“We’re spending more on utilities than we need to,” Lee said. 

The city is setting aside $5 million over five years to pay for the project.

“We’re trying to do this as budget efficient as possible,” Lee said. “[We want to] improve the systems efficiency but not do things like ground heating geothermal or solar. We'll probably replace all the lights with LEDs.”

Changing the internal layout will also allow the city to operate with fewer employees.

“Staff functions can overlap, and we can reduce overtime,” Lee said. 

The remodel will be designed around existing bathrooms, elevators and electrical systems. 

Needs have changed, city leaders want to do a redesign without a major overhaul, moving walls and public access points. In the past the building held the police department, chamber of commerce and South Valley services. All of those departments have moved out since. 

The reconstruction will be done in a way that will make it easy to move walls when needed. 

“[We want to] make sure this building is very good for the public and the city for the next 30 to 50 years,” Lee said. “We want to make the building flexible. The spaces are ‘Lego’; they can be used for office, storage or combined.” 

No construction is taking place yet. The Journal will keep you updated on this project.