Icons for Sale: Future of City Hall is ‘Anyone’s Guess’

• Editor's note: This is the seventh of a multipart summer series by Tara Knott and Garrett Lance looking at the iconic Geneva buildings for sale or facing future moves, and what those moves mean for Geneva's long-term development. See the series intro .

Geneva’s City Hall is tight on space.

While the building, at 22 South First St., is 10,000 sqaure feet, a recent space study revealed that the city needs at least 20,000 square feet to efficiently serve Geneva residents.

“We literally don’t have enough space in this building to just have meetings related to our departmental functions,” said Director of Community Development Dick Untch. “We have two conference rooms and that’s it.”

More than 100 volunteers that serve on various committees and commissions need room to meet, as well. The limited space leads to a constant juggling of schedules.

A recent agreement passed by the City Council gave the city the option to purchase the current at 127 James St., if the library successfully relocates to the property.

While an additional building would likely give the city the space it needs, no one yet knows how the city would use the library property, or the City Hall for that matter, in the future.

“If you asked 10 different council members, you’d get 10 different answers. If you asked 1,000 citizens, you’d get 1,000 different answers,” said Geneva Mayor Kevin Burns regarding the possible future uses of City Hall.

Untch pointed out that the city’s Master Plan could suggest a range of possible uses for City Hall.

“Whether we just relocated totally into the library or some other building, or connect the two buildings together if we do go next door (to the library), or maybe the use of this building changes to some other community or public use—these are possibilities,” he said.

City Hall is accustomed to the kinds of changes Untch suggested. The nearly 100-year-old building has been renovated and reused many times, including uses as the Fire Department, Police Department and the jail.

City Hall’s adapatability is proof of its significance.

“This building has sat on this land since 1912,” recalled Mayor Burns. “It is likely to sit here for another hundred-plus years. What use it will be is anyone’s guess.”