Bangor’s city hall building at 73 Harlow St. reopens Monday, marking the end of nearly 20 months of renovations.
The updates to the building, which include a new HVAC system, bulletproof glass for service windows and a reorganization of the building layout, cost about $10 million.
One major change is that the city offices most frequently visited by members of the public, including assessing, clerk and treasury, community and economic development, code enforcement, planning, and the city council chambers, have been moved to the first floor to make them easier to find.
Going forward, those city services will close at 4:15 p.m. instead of 4:30 p.m.
City Council approved the change of hours last month in response to a request from staff, who reported a recent spike in visitors at the end of the day. That rush has required city employees to work overtime, which the department hadn’t budgeted for.
Community members can see the new space at the city’s reopening ceremony at 5:15 p.m. Monday.
The city also added a new elevator that meets Americans with Disabilities Act standards. Prior to the renovations, the building hadn’t undergone a major interior change since the mid-1970s, and its elevator was not fully wheelchair-accessible.
The elevator will take people to the school, engineering and legal departments on the second floor and the city manager, human resources and finance offices on the third floor.
Voters first approved a $6 million bond for the building update six years ago, in 2019.
