City Hall Returning to City Hall

For the past year, everything that typically happened at 520 Warren Street has taken place at the Central Fire Station on North Seventh Street. But the period of exile is coming to an end tomorrow. Beginning Monday, March 25, City Hall will be back in its former and now universally accessible location. The following press release explains the plans for the return.

The offices of City Hall will return to 520 Warren Street on Monday, March 25, 2024.

This relocation impacts the offices of the Mayor, the City Clerk, Parking Bureau, the City Treasurer, the City Assessor, and the Departments of Public Works, Water & Sewer, and Housing Justice, as well as the meetings of the Common Council and a majority of the city’s public boards and committees.

The relocation process for City Hall offices to 520 Warren Street will take place primarily over the course of March 21-22, 2024, and during this time City Hall services will be closed except by appointment. Starting Monday, March 25, the public will have access to all departments by visiting 520 Warren Street during standard business hours (8:30 a.m. to 5 p.m.) or contacting specific departments by phone or email.

The vending machine for trash bags will be returned to the exterior of 520 Warren Street on Thursday, March 21.

The overnight drop-off box previously located at the Hudson Police & Courts building will be removed the afternoon of Wednesday, March 20. The night deposit box located at the exterior of 520 Warren Street will be reopened to accept off-hours drop-offs for City Hall offices beginning the evening of March 20.

The FedEx drop-off box that was previously relocated to the exterior of the Hudson City Centre (at the intersection of State and Green streets) will remain at One Hudson City Centre.

MEETINGS

Public meetings previously held at the Central Fire Station (77 N. 7th Street) will be held at 520 Warren Street beginning with the Tuesday, April 2, 2024, Conservation Advisory Council Meeting. Boards and committees that will return their regularly scheduled meetings to City Hall in April include:

• Common Council and its committees (Legal, Parking, Truck Route, Finance, etc.)
• Conservation Advisory Council
• Hudson Community Development & Planning Agency
• Planning Board
• Historic Preservation Commission
• Zoning Board of Appeals
• Housing Trust Fund Board 

Meetings indicated as "hybrid" on the City's calendar will continue to be accessible via Microsoft Teams or Zoom. View the online calendar for more details.

ABOUT THE RENOVATION

Per requirements set by a settlement agreement with the U.S. Department of Justice, the City of Hudson engaged with Thaler Reilly Wilson Architecture & Preservation to develop a set of options to bring City Hall to compliance with Title II of the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) through a feasibility study completed in 2019 and later revised in 2020. The City decided to proceed with option #3, which included:

• Renovation of the east entrance to accommodate an ADA-accessible lift to the first floor and reconfigure the stairs leading to the second floor
• Construction of an accessible parking space directly in front of City Hall
• Construction of an accessible restroom on the first floor
• Installation of an accessible service counter on the first floor
• Asbestos abatement, replacement of flooring, and improvements to other interior furnishings 

After further refinements to plans and construction documents, the project was released for bid in November 2022, and a contract was awarded to VMJR Companies, Inc., in January 2023.

The principal construction period for the renovation took place from March to September 2023. In the course of this renovation, addition asbestos material was discovered in the basement of the building. Final remediation of the remaining asbestos was completed in February 2024, which was followed by additional cleaning and light renovations undertaken by the Department of Public Works to other areas of the building during the end of February and early March 2024.

For everyone planning to attend meetings in person beginning in April, be advised that the renovation did not include reupholstering the benches in the Council Chamber, an addition to the project that would have cost about $3,200. You can expect the lumpy and uncomfortable benches, covered in faux leather that sticks to your clothing in summer, will be just as they were the last time there was a meeting at City Hall.