Deal underway for new Clarendon City Hall

Clarendon City Hall will have a new home in 2020 after a real estate agreement was reached last week.

City Administrator David Dockery says the city is purchasing the former office building of Bill Lowe at 313 S. Sully across from the Donley County Courthouse for $163,000.

“We’re too confined in our current offices and our requirements to meet the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) was going to be expensive,” Dockery said.

ADA accessibility is a requirement of the city’s current USDA-funded waterline project, and Dockery said the age and construction of the present City Hall was going to make it difficult to meet those standards.

The Lowe building will also require some modifications for ADA, and Dockery said contractors are looking at that work now, and the city hopes to have it completed in three to four months. The new location has more than 3,600 square feet of floor space available to meet the city’s needs.

Dockery said the city was able to use excess revenue from the current budget to purchase the Lowe property and did not have to tap the city’s reserves for this.

Officials are currently exploring options as to the future use of the current City Hall offices. The two-story building was erected in 1918 and has housed the city offices for most of the time since then.

Currently the fire department utilizes the second floor and the back of the building with city offices on the first floor at the front of the building.