Athens City Council met in committees Monday to discuss the Athens Armory and the new fire station headquarters.
Councilmember Sam Crowl, D-3rd Ward, said a number of ordinances will be brought up next week establishing final costs and appropriations for the Armory project, as well as creating the Athens Community Improvement Corporation, or ACIC, and the ACIC fund.
Crowl said the Armory project will allow local entities to utilize the space.
Crowl said one ordinance will authorize Service-Safety Director Andrew Stone to spend up to $1.2 million on the armory project, with approximately $914,000 coming from the ACIC fund.
Mayor Steve Patterson said once those ordinances pass, contractors will be able to start the necessary demolition work. Then, the contractors will go back in to redo the plumbing, sprinkle the building, start doing drywall and start working on the Veterans’ Hall of Honor.
Patterson said the project is going to take approximately 12 to 16 months once it gets started and he hopes the project will start in October. By its completion, he said the Armory will be redeveloped into a usable building the public can enjoy again, and business will take place inside.
Council also discussed an ordinance that would transfer revenue made from bonds in order to pay for fire station expenses.
Councilmember Micah McCarey, D-At Large, said the ordinance will authorize Stone to spend up to $13,670,000 on planning, preliminary engineering, design and construction management, land purchase and site preparation.
