NP plan makes better use of village hall (PBP) 4-19-00The Palm Beach Post
Date: q _ 1 � _. 010
Im an
Norlth. Pa.
P1.
malies b,tt r use
Of villa ge hall
Proposed renovations
will incorporate space
formerly occupied by
the city's public
safety division.
By Thomas R. Collins
Palm Beach Post Staff Miter
NORTH PALM BEACH
Look no farther than behind an
unassuming closet door next to
the village clerk's office in the
village hall here to understand
why officials soon will spend
nearly a million dollars to re-
vamp the place.
Therein, near the office sup-
plies, sits a typewriter on a shelf
about waste -high. And it is there
that Village Clerk Kitty Kelly
stands when she has to fill out a
pre-printed form, such as a Fed-
eral Express document she
wants to look nicer than it would
hand-written, or some other doc-
ument for which she can't use
the computer. She has more
space there than in her cramped
office, she says.
"We're closet typists," she
hesitantly admits.
Not for long.
Tomorrow, an architect is
expected to submit two options
for village hall renovations that
are sorely needed. The village
council is expected to discuss
the plans at its April 27 meeting.
The renovations, which are esti-
mated to cost $900.,000, will
mean a thorough gutting of the
interior and replacement with a
new layout that uses all of its
space.
more than 10,000 square feet of
space has gone unused since the
public safety department moved
to its own building across the
street on U.S. 1. last year. Those
offices, including the police de-
partment's holding cells and the
fire department's lockers, now
sit dormant behind locked doors
on the south side of the building.
It's like a museum that's never
visited.
The renovations will make
each of the hall's offices in-
cluding the clerk's office, city
manager's office, and the finance
department about 30 percent
bigger, said the town's architect,
Anderson Slocomb of Gee and
Jenson in West Palm Beach. He
said it's been a challenge work-
ing with the village's configura-
tion, which roughly. is a horse-
shoe pattern.
Some may suggest building a
new village hall. Advice to those
people: Ssshhhh village offi-
cials don't like to hear that.
Even Kelly can hardly bring
herself to say a disparaging
thing about village hall, so affec-
tionate is she toward the build-
ing, one of the first to be built
in the early 1950's in what is
now North Palm Beach. Until
now, even .council members
didn't know about the typewriter
situation because she's kept it to
herself, she said.
"It's as nice today as it was
when it was built," Kelly said. "A
lot of people tend to take this
building for granted as just an-
other building, but it's not just
Accession # 2006���6�
Access for
disabled
a priority-
Continuedfrom page I
another building."
"I love it, I think it's great,"
Councilman Charles O'Meilia
said. "I fought to keep the colors
the same throughout the years."
Care was taken to preserve the
building's look when sections
have been added occasionally,
he said.
So there never was talk about
replacing the building. Officials
say they'll have enough space to
work with once the old public
safety space is put back into
commission.
Mayor Joseph A. Tringali
said "the first thing" that needs
to be done with the renovations
is to give the disabled a way to
get to the restrooms during
council meetings. The only way
to get to them now involves
climbing steps.
He'd also like a council dais
that isn't as high as the current
one, which he said is "kind of
like you're looking down on vot-
ers from the heights of Mt.
Olympus or something."
Finance Director Shaukat
Khan proudly points out that the
renovations will be done with lit-
tle or no increase in taxes.
Khan, too, is eager for more
space. When he hired his admin-
istrative secretary a few years
ago, he had to displace an ac-
countant.
"She's sitting in the storage
room right now," he said.
And storing bulky financial
documents has been a chore.
"Some of the stuff is in here,
some of the stuff is in there," he
said, pointing first at a closet
across from his office, then to
the other side of the building. "It
would be good to have more el-
bow room, you know?"
® tomas collins0pbpost.com
0
bt the ; of tl�ie }a 's