After years of deferring the conversation, Norcross leaders have begun talking about a city hall overhaul, signaling plans to modernize the building and rethink how it serves the public.
Rather than jumping straight to construction, the council leaned toward funding a formal planning and engineering phase in next year’s budget. Discussions with Norcross residents, the downtown business community, and developers are anticipated.
Details on city hall renovations
During the May 18 policy work session, elected officials discussed some of their initial ideas, like reorienting the main entrance toward the downtown plaza and adding a more accessible public restroom.
The current Norcross City Hall, located at 65 Lawrenceville Street, is 24 years old.
Council Member Matt Myers said the discussion is meant to be a kickoff to give city staff direction before the council’s June 28 retreat. Myers said he wants to show some sketches to the community at a Cookout with Council this summer.
“This is kind of like pre-planning,” Myers said. “Right now, we have community spaces upstairs. Do we want to put it all downstairs? I’d love to understand what’s critical for us and get that on paper.”
Council Member Bruce Gaynor said the council chambers need to be larger because the pews regularly fill up during regular meetings. Gaynor’s call to “modernize” Norcross City Hall drew laughs from other council members.
Other potential upgrades include creating a shared council workspace for private constituent meetings and separating community meeting spaces from staff offices for better security.
A city memo says timing is critical, with an expectation that municipal court and police department operations will shift to the new public safety building in August. Assuming there’s funding for the renovation’s engineering and design in next year’s budget, city staff estimates construction to begin in 2028.
Next steps for city officials
Some objectives established during the meeting include forming a stakeholder committee that includes staff and board representatives, hiring design professionals to conduct a needs assessment, and producing multiple layout options.
Norcross Public Works Director Len Housley explained the planning phases and a conceptual project timeline to elected officials.
“We really haven’t defined the needs, the scope, and the preferred layout, the flow of the building,” Housley said. “That’s step one. And the quicker that we can do that, the quicker we can work with architectural firms to draw up some designs.”
Toward the end of the work session, Myers established consensus among elected officials to have staff begin work on preliminary renovation plans.
In other news:
• The council is considering a change to its business occupational taxes “to better align with prevailing practices in peer communities and to generate additional General Fund revenue,” according to a city memo. The proposed 150% increase generates about $630,000 in revenue, which will offset revenue loss from newly authorized homestead exemptions.
• Norcross is considering a proposal to repurpose the city’s former welcome center on Lawrenceville Street, currently housing city HR staff, into a small gathering place for public use.
