Central City Hall: A New Vision

By Woody Jenkins, Editor, Central City News — CENTRAL — Mayor Wade Evans is proposing the City of Central build a new City Hall on school board property at the corner of Hooper and Sullivan roads near the school system’s new Central Office.

The idea has been around in one form or another for at least 10 years but Mayor Evans feels now is the time to move forward.

The proposed City Hall would house the Mayor’s office and the City Council Chamber on one side and Central City Services and other entities on the other side, including a private motor vehicle center for getting license plates and registration certificates.  He wants to discuss with Clerk of Court Doug Welborn the possibility of the Clerk providing some of his services at the facility, including birth certificates and marriage licenses.

The new 13,000-square foot City Hall would cost about $5.5 million. The mayor will ask the Central City Council to approve funding for architectural work at the Council meeting on Tuesday, April 25.  Mayor Evans is hopeful Sen. Bodi White will continue his efforts to assist with state funding for the project. “Sen. White has been great in helping the city, and we’re hoping he has another successful legislative session.”

Council members Dr. Kim Fralick and Briton Myer are sponsored the funding proposal for architectural services.  It is unclear whether there will be any opposition.  

Central Mayor Pro-Tem Aaron McKinney said he has always supported building city hall at the corner of Hooper and Sullivan roads.  He said he also supported acquisition of the Duvall property across Sullivan because it will be valuable to the city regardless of whether City Hall is on one site or the other.  He said his personal feelings are to go for the mayor’s proposal, but he wants to hear what citizens think at Tuesday’s Council meeting.

Evans said Central has been a community for nearly 100 years but has never developed a downtown area. He is hopeful placing City Hall next to the school board office and development of the Devall property across Sullivan would result in a lot more services for the people of Central. 

“Actually, we are talking about not just Central but the 100,000 people who live in the northern part of the parish,” he said.

Locating City Hall on school board property would require the city purchasing the property from the school board or some kind of intergovernmental agreement.

If the city builds 55 to 70 parking lots next to City Hall, Mayor Evans is hopeful that could be credited toward land acquisition, since the school board needs those parking spaces, especially for Central High football.

The mayor said he expects IBTS, the private contractor that provides most city services, to be hiring more employees, and that is another reason City Hall is needed.

The area has more and more to offer, Evans said, including the new high school track.

One of his goals is to connect the corner of Hooper and Sullivan roads, which includes Wildcat Stadium, with Central High School on Wax Road.  This would involve a 10-foot wide shared use drive which could be used for service vehicles, golf carts, bicycles, running, and jogging.  He would like to see the Devall property across Sullivan used for other purposes including commercial development or a park.

“I’m hopeful that all future development in Central would include connectivity,” the mayor said.

Mayor Evans envisions getting some of the funding in the state’s Capital Outlay Bill during the current legislative session.  He would hope to get the architectural plans approved expediously with a goal of breaking ground by the 3rd Quarter of this year.

“I’d like to see the new City Hall complete by the end of 2024,” he said.