Hoover council to pay $2.7 million for city hall renovations, $1.6 million to buy Hoover-Randle Home
The Hoover City Council on Monday night agreed to spend $2.7 million for renovations at Hoover City Hall and $1.6 million to buy the historic Hoover-Randle Home & Gardens.
The city hall renovation will include gutting and rebuilding the council chambers, council conference room, council offices, numerous administrative offices and a small conference room just off the lobby, City Administrator Allan Rice said.
The lobby area, which is on the third floor of city hall, will be expanded by building a floor over a large open space that now looks down onto the second floor, allowing more of a gathering space outside the council chambers and city clerk’s office, Rice said.
Workers also will add a new, large room on what is now the patio on the third floor, just off the lobby. That room will be used for community meetings, conferences, staff training and other gatherings, Rice said.
Finally, the city hall renovation also will include repairs to the fourth floor enclosed glass bridge that goes over Municipal Lane to the Hoover Public Library. The bridge has been shut down due to water getting in it and causing a slip hazard, and workers will reseal the windows to try to keep water out, Rice said. The roof over the bridge already has been replaced in conjunction with the rest of the roof at city hall, he said.
One of the biggest reasons for the renovation at city hall is a moisture problem in the building that has led to mold and mildew, said Tim Westhoven, the city’s chief operations officer. It is particularly evident in the council chambers, where a musty smell and mildewed seating have greeted visitors for well in excess of two years.
Council President Gene Smith said the city really needs to jump on the project quickly. “I think the mold in the council chambers has probably gotten to the point where it can tap you on the shoulder,” Smith said.
The council chambers will get all new seating, and workers will provide more room for council members behind the dais, extensive audio-visual upgrades, transom windows to allow some natural light, and a space for the city administrator alongside the mayor, city clerk and city attorney.
The council chambers has not renovated since it was built in the 1980s, city officials said.
Offices to be renovated include those for the city administrator, chief operations officer, event manager and risk management staff.
Duncan & Thompson Construction was the low bidder among three bidders for the job and got the contract. Work hopefully should begin soon after the start of 2020 and take eight to 10 months to complete, Rice said.
In the meantime, meetings of the Hoover City Council, Hoover Planning and Zoning Commission and Hoover Board of Zoning Adjustment have been moved to the Hoover Senior Center. Hoover Arts Council meetings are being held at the Hoover Public Library.
HOOVER-RANDLE HOME PURCHASE
As for the Hoover-Randle Home & Gardens, Hoover Mayor Frank Brocato said the city had a good opportunity to purchase a home that has been a big part of the city’s history.
The home at 2255 Tyler Road was built by William Hoover, the founder of Hoover, in 1947 as a residence for his family. The Hoovers lived there for 40 years until the house was sold to Ed and Barbara Randle in 1987, according to the historical marker along Tyler Road.
Ed Randle said he and his wife bought the home to preserve it. They expanded it from about 3,000 square feet to about 8,700 square feet of finished space, but it also has another 1,627 square feet of unfinished space in the basement, according to a recent appraisal obtained by the city. The home has four bedrooms, four full bathrooms and three half-bathrooms.
Here are some photos from 2016, when the Randles sought permission from the city to turn the home into an event facility:
In addition to living in the home, the Randles used it to host more than 50 charity functions, as well as a few family weddings.
But in the past couple of years, they moved out into a home next door and began operating the Hoover-Randle home strictly as an event venue for weddings, corporate meetings and other parties and events.
Brocato said it’s a beautiful home and the city has been in discussions with the Randles about purchasing it for about two years. Brocato said he likes the idea of preserving it and keeping the 4.29 acres from being developed into something else.
It has a lot of history, he said, noting that the city’s original incorporation papers were signed in that home.
City officials have not decided for sure what they will do with the home, but Brocato and City Administrator Allan Rice said the main idea being considered is for the city to continue to operate it as an event venue.
Brocato said it should complement other city facilities, such as Aldridge Gardens, and fit well into the city’s hospitality and tourism efforts, now under the direction of Tynette Lynch.
Rice said the Randles have successfully been able to operate it as an event facility. They held 93 events there in 2018 and have held more than 60 so far this year, according to information the Randles submitted to the city.
Their expenses for 2019 have averaged $16,725 a month, while income has averaged $9,000 per month, but that did not include income from the fourth quarter, which is the busiest quarter, records show.
Rice said he believes the city could operate the facility with greater efficiency by utilizing existing city personnel for some services, such as landscaping and maintenance. However, there may be a need to hire a facility manager, he said.
Council President Gene Smith said he likes the idea of the city buying the home because there is so much history there. While it hasn’t been profitable, he believes the city could make it profitable quickly and probably within a few years quadruple the revenues.
Councilman Mike Shaw said the Randles have done a phenomenal job of preserving the home but he is concerned about ongoing revenues. “As a city, that’s not what we’re built to do,” Shaw said during the council’s Oct. 31 work session.
Shaw also noted Monday night that city officials have been telling other people the city doesn’t have money for other things and questioned how they can come up with $1.6 million for this. However, he ended up voting in favor of the purchase, along with Smith and Councilmen John Lyda, Curt Posey and Casey Middlebrooks.
Councilman John Greene voted against buying the home, saying he thinks the $1.6 million could be better spent on other things, such as helping build the city’s 11th fire station. Councilman Derrick Murphy was absent.
The mayor proposed for the city to pay off the $995,000 still owed on the Hoover-Randle Home mortgage, plus make six annual payments of $100,000 to the Randles. Smith said the city might save money by paying it all upfront.
Rice said the council still has time to determine whether it will pay for the home in cash or take out another mortgage on the property and how exactly it wishes to use the home in the future. Monday night’s vote was just a decision on whether to approve the purchase.
The city is willing to honor any existing contracts with people who have already booked the facility, Rice said. Also, the Randles have agreed to leave most of the furnishings in the house, except for a few sentimental items, he said.
Bluff Park resident Robin Schultz said the council should have allowed more time for public discussion and input on the decision. The potential purchase was not made public until the council’s Oct. 17 work session.
Also, Schultz advised city officials to decide what they are going to do with the property before they agree to buy it. “Once we own it, we own it,” he said.
STADIUM TRACE IMPROVEMENT DISTRICT
In other business Monday night, the council discussed the idea of creating an “improvement district” on the Stadium Trace Village property developed by Broad Metro LLC at the corner of John Hawkins Parkway and Stadium Trace Parkway.
The developer is asking the council to create the district so the developer can finance public improvements on the property at below-market interest rates by selling tax-exempt bonds.
The improvements, which include roads, sewer, water and site work, already have been done, said Ken Funderburk of Stifel, the investment banking firm working with Broad Metro LLC. This will just allow the developer to recoup some of his costs already incurred, probably about $6 million to $7 million, Funderburk said.
The “improvement district” is an economic development tool that numerous governments use to help stimulate economic activity. The idea is similar to tax-exempt borrowing initiated by industrial development boards on behalf of companies. The city would bear no responsibility for paying off the bonds, Funderburk said. The improvement district would just be the vehicle through which the bonds were issued, he said.
Council members decided to table the matter to address some proposed tweaks in the agreement. Smith said he hopes to be able to bring it back up for a vote in two weeks.