The city can probably afford to spend between $4 million and $5 million for its own digs, says Mayor Randy Fitts, and it'll probably happen sometime next year.
"We don't want anything elaborate, but we want something nice," said Fitts, who campaigned last year on a platform calling for publicly owned City Hall quarters.South Salt Lake, if it constructs a new City Hall, would be following in the footsteps of Sandy, West Valley City and Alta, towns that have recently constructed new city offices. Draper is also considering building a new City Hall.
Municipal government in South Salt Lake now shells out about $320,000 annually to the landlord who owns the City Hall building at 220 E. Morris Ave., a street named for what is now the building's highest-profile tenant, Morris Air. It also houses a number of other businesses.
Fitts said nobody's ruling out the possibility of staying at the current site and buying the building for about $3.8 million. That would allow the city to expand into upper floors, perhaps putting an auditorium in the space held by Morris, which will vacate the premises after its Oct. 4 takeover by Southwest Airlines.
But there are other alternatives.
By Sept. 10, a local commission will be impaneled to decide what sort of amenities might go into the new City Hall. It will include representatives from each of the city's seven community councils plus two City Council members.
"We obviously can't have something that'll cost $12 million. We don't want a state capitol," said Fitts. "But we want something to serve our needs for many, many years.
"We'll be looking at whether it might also be a community center and we'll be asking `do we want a senior center to be part of it, do we want a swimming pool, do we want tennis courts, a playground, a park?' "
He said it's ultimately up to the seven-member City Council to decide whether to stay on Morris Avenue or move elsewhere and build.
Possible sites include a former Fred Meyer locale at 300 East and 2200 South; the spot where the Columbus Community Center sits at 2500 South and 500 East or the former Prudential Federal Savings and Loan Association building at 3300 South and State Street.