City employees tour the newly renovated Tax Collector’s office at Westfield City Hall last night as final preparations are put into place for employees to return to the building next week. (Photo by Frederick Gore)
WESTFIELD – The massive City Hall energy-efficiency and renovation project is winding down this week, with municipal employees slated to move back into the historic building next week.
A group of about 25 employees were given a sneak peek yesterday of the modifications made to the century old structure, drawing oohs and aahs as they toured the restructured offices. Gone are window air conditioners that pocked the building in the past, gone are huge cast-iron steam radiators, gone are the linoleum floors.
The building has been equipped with new energy-efficient forced hot water radiators and with central air conditioning replacing the inefficient air conditioning window units and single-pane windows which leaked energy to the outside.
The original hardwood floors were uncovered as linoleum was pulled up and sanded, revealing the beauty that was hidden for decades. Doors were sanded and refinished, and interior office space reconfigured to provide better space for both employees and members of the public seeking services in those offices.
Mayor Daniel M. Knapik said that while improving energy-efficiency was the factor that led to the City Hall renovation, there were other goals.
“The utility and energy management project was the reason for the renovation,” Knapik said, “But while the walls were open, we decided to reconfigure the space to better facilitate City and School Department functions.
Westfield Mayor Daniel Knapik, right, and Westfield city hall maintenance employee Tom Curran discuss the new energy-efficient natural gas boilers that will heat Westfield City Hall. The new HydroTherm units are manufactured by a division of Mestek Corp. in Westfield and are designed to produce 1,000,000 Btuh each when operating independently. (Photo by Frederick Gore)
“When I arrived in this building four years ago, more than 30 percent of the interior space was unusable,” Knapik said. “So one of the primary goals of this project was to reconfigure the building so that every space could be used for people, to have the workflow make sense.
“Another goal was to make the whole building American with Disabilities (Act) compliant,” Knapik said.
Every office is now equipped with counters that can be used by people in wheelchairs, office doors were widened to allow access and a wheelchair lift system added on the third floor to give access to all of the offices on that floor.
Knapik said that many of the physical modifications returned the structure to the original configuration of the building.
“This work was done in a way that is very respectful of the building’s historic past,” Knapik said.
Community Development Director Peter J. Miller Jr., said that the reconfiguration “is well done, but not overly done.”
Another major part of the renovation, which included installing a new slate roof, was to add additional support structure for the massive weight of that roof.
“An additional steel superstructure to support the slate roof was installed,” Knapik said. “All of that weight is now being carried by the steel structure.”
Knapik said that municipal employees will begin to move back into the renovated building on Monday beginning with his staff at 27 Washington St., which includes Auditing and Purchasing staff, Community Development and City Advancement Officer Jeff Daley.
Staff now housed in the Westwood Building on North Elm Street will then begin to return, an effort that includes moving a large number of files needed for municipal administration while city hall work was underway.
Building Superintendent Jon Flagg said that he and Fire Department officials, Superintendent of Alarms Greg Health and Deputy Chief Patrick Egloff, the department’s fire prevention office, will inspect the building Friday.
