WAVELAND, MS (WLOX) -
City leaders say the crown jewel of Coleman Avenue is back.
"Employees are excited about it, looking forward to it, and we can't wait 'til the day to come," said Waveland Mayor David Garcia.
The old City Hall building that sat in the same spot on Coleman Avenue was leveled to its slab during Katrina. City leaders say destroying this one won't be that easy.
"It's got right around 360 pounds of rebar in the slab itself and the structure of the first floor. One-hundred and sixty-three pilings under the ground 40-foot deep, so yes it's well built. It's not going anywhere, " explained Job Superintendent Lance Vogt.
Mayor Garcia said, "It's a beautiful building."
Inside the new facility, residents will be able to pay their utility bills or pull a building permit.
"Since we're going to be operating with less employees and a smaller staff on this side of the building, you're going to see your planning and zoning, your water and gas department," said the Mayor.
A large open space room with colonial style trim work and a long bench for board members is the place where city Aldermen will meet. The spacious room comes with a few extra rooms.
"We have a room back here especially designed for if we need to go into executive session. We can go into executive session without everyone having to leave the large room here," according to Garcia.
"We're also going to have room and accessibility here for people to meet with their aldermen as well at this location. As you can see, they're currently putting in the carpet here. I was just told by the contractor that this downstairs should be completed sometime this week."
The interior of the second floor of the building is already finished. The Mayor, comptroller and city clerk will have offices upstairs.
The Mayor says the entire building should be finished next week, then there will be a punch list period before the building can be occupied. He expects workers to be able to move in sometime in mid to late February.
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