On the same site where 10 months ago Ellsworth City Hall once stood, city officials and dignitaries ceremoniously broke ground for a new Ellsworth City Hall Tuesday morning.
Actual construction begins Monday by Swift Construction Inc. of Sioux Falls.
The 3,583-square foot city hall and community room is expected to take 270 days to complete.
At a pre-construction meeting prior to the groundbreaking ceremony, the council discussed the new facility will be open June 26, 2020.
“The Jan. 15th fire was a decision that was made for the City of Ellsworth,” said Mayor Tasha Domeyer. “Not a decision that the City of Ellsworth made.”
On Sept. 23, council members approved an $874,000 bid to replace the former two-story city hall that was built in 1915.
The new city hall will be a one-story structure on the same Main Street location as the previous facility. A community meeting room and kitchen will be a part of the new facility.
Rain showers kept the groundbreaking ceremony indoors at the city’s temporary location at Zion Presbyterian Church.
“We break ground today for our new city hall,” Domeyer said. “I will raise proudly, my shovel, for a better tomorrow.”
Ellsworth’s determination to rebuild the city hall and maintenance shop was noticed by the invited elected officials.
Rep. Rod Hamilton and Sen. Bill Weber renewed their funding efforts for a proposed multi-purpose center to be attached to the city hall at a later date.
A tour by the Capital Improvement Committee will take place next week to familiarize legislators about the Ellsworth project.
“Our goal is to get this project in the final bonding bill,” Weber told a crowd of about two-dozen people gathered in the church basement.
Working with the city is a community task force, which is charged by council members to raise the almost $1 million necessary for the multi-propose facility. A letter campaign of both businesses and individuals will kick off soon.
Chairwoman Rhonda Groen said state bonding dollars will reduce the task force’s goal by 50 percent. Results of the bonding bill won’t be known until mid 2020.
Until then, the task force’s campaign will unfold in phases.
“First we are asking for just a commitment,” Groen said.
The council’s building committee will meet next week to redesign plans for the new maintenance shop. Previous bids came in over the amount budgeted by the city council.
“We will re-bid the project before the end of the year,” said councilman Paul Snyder.