Clearwater shares plans for new $45M city hall with residents

CLEARWATER, Fla. - The city of Clearwater has plans to build a new city hall, which is set to cost $45 million.

The plans for the new building, which will be a two-story, 42,000 sq. ft. space, were on display Monday night at a community meeting, with goals to get the publics' opinion before construction begins. 

Clearwater has been without a city hall for nearly five years, after outgrowing the old space and dealing with occurrences of asbestos, according to city staff. City council meetings have since been held in the public library, and they have rented out office space downtown. 

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City council member Mark Bunker said it’s time for a true city hall. 

"This is something that is going to be good for the city," Bunker said Monday. "It’s going to allow us to work better and smarter, and give the public a much better opportunity to come in and interface with the city. This is going to be a welcoming space for everyone in the city." 

However, the price tag of $45 million had some residents concerned the money could be spent elsewhere. 

"We have a lot of things that we could address," said Gerry Lee, a Clearwater resident of 25 years. "We have a problem with affordable housing, some of our streets flood, we still have streets without sidewalks, curbs and streetlights… When you think of what the city government is supposed to supply for you, it should be infrastructure that makes citizens feel good. There won’t be very many citizens going to that building." 

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Other residents who attended Monday’s public opinion meeting liked the space. 

"I’ve been here 68 years, and it’s important to me that we are included in everything," Diane Stephens said. "I have to admit some of the features they have are really interesting. Like that they are looking ahead like having electric stations for the cars. We need to keep it beautiful because Florida is beautiful." 

"We want this building to help activate downtown Clearwater," City Engineer Tara Kivett said. "We want people to enjoy getting help from city staff, look forward to staff meetings and participate in their local government."

Construction of the new city hall is expected to be completed and open for use by the summer of 2026.