The Town of Banff is looking at the feasibility of developing the third floor of Town Hall and revamping the front reception area and various departments to make better use of space.
The municipality issued a request for proposals on July 21 for qualified architects and professional space planners to look at revamping Town Hall. The deadline for submissions is Aug. 12.
Kelly Gibson, the Town of Banff’s corporate manager, said since the building was constructed in 1996, staff levels, services, meetings and storage requirements have changed dramatically, noting about 75 people now work out of Town Hall.
“The Town of Banff believes it is necessary to look at modernization of the space to better meet its customers’ needs now and in the future,” he said. “It’s not so much about modernization as it is about utilization of space.”
Town Hall is a 21,000 square foot facility built over three floors, including underground parking. It was built in 1996 and the only substantial renovation to the building since that time was a redesign of second floor offices and the reception area in 2006.
The third floor of the building remains unfinished and only has access through the south stairwell.
“Can we use the third floor, and if so, what are the costs and what services would go where?” said Gibson. “There would be structural things we would need to look at to develop the third floor.”
Town Hall is the primary location for in-person customer inquiries and public meetings.
It includes reception, bylaw services, finance, recreation, family and community support services, planning, engineering, information technology, communications, human resources and council-administration.
