As the physical and symbolic heart of the community, downtown Powder Springs has welcomed tens of thousands of residents and visitors to its new park and amphitheater, anchored by the City’s preserved and renovated commercial structures as well as new residential development intended to attract young professionals and empty nesters to the city’s hometown appeal and welcoming qualities. Adding to this rebirth of downtown vibrancy and community connections is the new Municipal Complex currently under construction and fronting the new park, which upon completion will offer space to city employees serving the public and members of the public themselves.
On Monday night, the Powder Springs City Council unanimously approved an amended phase-one construction contract with The Macallan Group to build this multipurpose center and a 120-space parking deck. The Marietta-based construction and contracting company has been a trusted community partner to the city on a previous project: overseeing renovations to the Historic Bodiford House as it became the Seven Springs Museum in the 2015. More recently, Macallan completed interior renovations of the existing City Hall in one of Powder Springs’ sister cities in Cobb, Acworth.
The new community gathering space was approved at $13.1 million, up from a previous price tag of $12 million. Contributing to the price increase was an increased building size to include citizen-focused space, including an atrium and a community room. These spaces will allow the city to host local organizations, feature local artisans’ creations in the Art Gallery, and be the gathering site for the city’s inaugural Youth Council, among other purposes.
The Municipal Complex’s parking deck, which will be useable by employees and the public, was not included in the issuance of bonds to go toward funding the project, which also pushed the project’s price upward. The parking deck will provide needed space to those visiting downtown businesses and Thurman Springs Park, which is right across the street from the Municipal Complex site. Pricing was also pushed upward by factors that other governments, businesses and individuals have endured in recent years: supply chain issues in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic, and inflation.
With it being constructed on the former site of the city’s Municipal Court building, the Municipal Complex will allow most city operations to be regathered under one roof, from city administration and elected officials’ offices to Finance, Economic Development, Community Development, Human Resources, Information Technology, Stormwater, and Municipal Court. Parks, Senior Services, Police and Public Works will maintain their existing facilities.
The downtown property on which the previous City Hall and Community Development facilities previously sat until the summer of 2022 is now undergoing construction for Atlanta-based Novare Group’s multi-family project, which will begin to generate property tax revenue as opposed to its previous use as city property that was not on the tax rolls. The new city hall allows the city to be better stewards of its land.
Along with bonds, additional funding for the Municipal Complex project is coming from capital funds, federal American Rescue Plan Act funding, and revenues from the county’s Special Purpose Local Optional Sales Tax (SPLOST).
With Thurman Springs Park, the historic commercial corridor and new residential development to create a daytime population, the Municipal Complex returning City Hall to the heart of the city will help achieve the city’s mission to create a safe, vibrant, economically stimulating city where residents and visitors want to connect.
