Newest designs for city hall revealed at town hall meeting By CHRISTINA BLAKENEY Staff Writer
The District 3 town hall meeting at the senior center Monday night included updates from two individuals who want to continue building in the community - an architect's design of the new city hall, and an update by Police Chief Katherine Perez regarding the Bowie Police Department.
Grimm + Parker Architects' representative and one of the lead architects for the project, Melanie Hennigan, made a presentation that illustrated the design for the new city hall, slated to begin in February 2011.
The aerial view showed the audience, that consisted of local residents in the district, just how eco-conscious it will be, including such amenities as a green roof, glass entrance, fixed seating upon the council's request and many other new improvements for the city hall.
"The (structure) will be an energy-conserving design and should inspire others," said Hennigan, who also showed the community residents three videos.
"We've been working on the design since January of this year," said Hennigan. According to Hennigan, her company has been working closely with the City Council and the residents, to incorporate their ideas and suggestions into the design.
The building is 80,000 square feet and will be located on a 6.2-acre site, according to Hennigan.
It's symbolic of the community it reflects, and it is comprised of glass, brick and stone, and, according to Hennigan, "the glass represents the transparency of government," she said. "The idea is that you're welcome ... you can see what's happening in your local government."
The stone represents that the government is stable and the brick grounds the building, according to Hennigan.
There are also features like the green roof and the terrace, where you'll be able to appreciate and observe the vegetation that is growing, and in turn will conserve energy.
"We want the landscaping to be native species, so it will sustain itself over time," said Hennigan. "We want to make a very hopeful, very optimistic statement about the future."
As for the future of the Bowie Police Department, Perez gave an update.
Residents voiced their concerns about the lack of response time by Bowie Police, and Perez addressed their concerns, ensuring that the police department would improve upon its response time.
Another issue in the city is speeding. To address that problem, Perez said, "We're looking at a citywide traffic-calming process. We're in the process of the contact radio system."
Mayor G. Fred Robinson again commended the chief for an outstanding job in service to the city of Bowie. Robinson also indicated that the city alert system on the Web site is available for residents.
The meeting ended with remarks from the mayor and mayor pro tem encouraging the community to take responsibility and preserve the city's heritage.
