Work is underway in downtown Knoxville on a new City Hall. Located on the public square the old city hall sits next door to the historic Old Knox County Courthouse built in 1839 before the county seat was moved to Galesburg in the 1870s. Constructed in 1854, the Hall of Records next to the courthouse eventually became the Knoxville Public Library for a century before being turned into City Hall.
Currently, Knoxville City Council meetings are held in the Knoxville Police Station conference room. Plans for the new city hall were finalized by Bruner, Cooper, and Zuck and approved at the January 18th city council meeting. According to council documents, Hein Construction was approved at the March 15th meeting with their bid of $767,100 to build the new city hall. The new, handicap-accessible city hall is being built next door to the old city hall – which will remain standing. The new hall will feature the council chambers, a staff office, and a lobby with the main entrance on the east side of the building. The original target completion date was December of this year, but 1st Ward Alderman Mike Howard recently posted online the projected completion date will be in September.
