South Bend’s new City Hall opens Monday, marking the first time in 54 years that city government will have its own building. On Friday they gave reporters a sneak peek.
The Mayor James Mueller administration has been planning the move for three years. The city is leaving the St. Joseph County-owned County-City Building, built in 1971, and moving into the former South Bend schools headquarters on Martin Luther King Jr. Blvd. across from the Century Center.
Mueller has said the move’s $10 million cost ultimately will be offset by efficiencies gained, from bringing in the city water works and building departments instead of operating those at other locations downtown.
A first-floor customer service center with touch-screens will let you check in for help from a person or serve yourself. Denise Riedl is the city’s chief innovation officer. She says at the County-City Building the city surveyed visitors and found they needed more help with knowing where to go.
“About 50 percent of them were lost, like they didn’t know where to go and so we’re really excited to have this united storefront that we’re presenting to the city so that we send people up if they need to go up. We take care of as much as we can down here but we’re taking care of the navigation for them so no one’s wandering around, getting lost.”
