Maitland City Talk

Grand opening of city hall

By Howard Schieferdecker
| 11:31 a.m. September 5, 2012

Winter Park - Maitland Observer
Opinion

On Aug. 30 the city of Maitland, its citizens and project team of staff and contractor professionals were proud to celebrate the grand opening of Maitland’s new City Hall. This state of the art facility is the newest addition to our city skyline. It sets a high-quality standard and is the cornerstone for our city’s vision for the future development of our beautiful downtown.

Designed in a style that embraces classic tiled roofs, arches and ornamental detail, the facility takes on an enduring, timeless and strong civic presence for our community and future generations.

It is three stories tall, encompasses 24,000 square feet of space, and is constructed to qualify for LEED certification with the latest innovations in design and technology.

We are proud that our new City Hall has come in on time and under budget including design, construction, furnishings, equipment, site work, utilities, demolition and landscaping. It makes possible again, after many years, the assembly of all city general government operations under one roof.

The tradition of Maitland’s City Hall is long and proud, beginning in 1873 with Packwood Hall serving as the city’s unofficial meeting place just a few short steps from our new City Hall’s location. In 1885 when Maitland was incorporated, Packwood Hall was designated as the official Town Hall and would not be replaced until 1925 by a small separate building.

With a population of just over 400 people, Maitland replaced that earlier small facility in 1926 with the expectation that the new facility would be expanded in future years.

As luck would have it, the Depression, followed by two worldwide conflicts, delayed any change in the city facility until the 1970s, when our former city hall was built and dedicated in 1975. That facility has just recently been removed after serving the city well for almost four decades.

Although it was my proud honor and privilege as mayor to dedicate our beautiful new City Hall, there were many other people who were instrumental in the creation of this very special facility. They are as follows: Former Mayors Sascha Rizzo and Doug Kinson; Former Council members Rick Baldocchi, Tom Holley, David Libert, Joan Randolph, Bob Brown, Jeff Flowers, Bob Miller and Bill Taulbee; and present Council members Phil Bonus, Linda Frosch, Bev Reponen and Ivan Valdes.

I also want to thank the many staff members, consultants, advisory boards and financial advisors, all of whom helped make this project possible.

Additionally, we all need to especially recognize and give many thanks to the citizens of Maitland. For without their approval of the general obligation bonds by voter referendum in 2004 and their support throughout the development process, this new City Hall plus our new recently completed fire and police stations would not have been possible.

Our new City Hall was created in the same tradition as those early years when a small group of settlers came together as a community and founded the town of Lake Maitland. There, our citizens will gather to work as a community to build a better future for our families. Welcome one and all to our new city home!

City Council Agenda of Sept. 10

City Council meets the second and fourth Monday of the month at 6:30 p.m. The next meeting is scheduled for Sept. 10 in the Council Chambers, 1776 Independence Lane. Below is the agenda for that meeting.

Special Presentation

Orange County Property Appraiser, Bill Donegan – November Election Amendments

Public Hearing

Annual Budget – Set Proposed Milage Rate for FY 13

Consent Agenda

City Funding Pension Contribution Upfront

Decision Items:

Capital Improvements Program (CIP) (FY13-2017); Capital Improvements Element (CIE)

Joint Planning Area (JPA) 13th Amendment

Appointments

Lakes Advisory Board (2)

Parks & Recreation Advisory Board (1)