City officials pushing for changes to Isle of Palms City Hall

ISLE OF PALMS, S.C. (WCBD)– Isle of Palms residents could soon see a new and improved city hall. City council members said they hope to rebuild or renovate the current building on Palm Boulevard. 

After nearly 35 years, officials are pushing for a larger city hall, which would enable the government to better serve residents.

“We started these conversations when we kicked off our budget meeting earlier this year. This building was probably built in the late ’80s or early ’90s timeframe, so it has served us. Well,” said Phillip Pounds, Isle Of Palms mayor.

At Tuesday’s meeting, city council members awarded Trident Construction $17,010 to come up with plans for renovating the current building or relocating the building to one of two areas, either a parking lot on Pavilion Drive or next to the current public safety building. 

“We could use the same entrance for public safety for fire and City Hall, which would not visually impact what’s happening on the island. That would also allow consolidation of all the services on the island in the event of a hurricane or some other type of emergency so that we would all be under one roof,” said Blair Hahn, Isle of Palms city councilmember.

Mayor Pounds said they are still in the early planning phases, but the project’s goal is to make operations more efficient and convenient for island residents. 

“Again, from a residence standpoint, it would be nice to have one building where they could do all their business with the city. If I must go to the police, I’m over there. If I must come and City Hall or something, I’m here if I need to go to public works there, so at least we could bring most of the employees together and in one location,” said Pounds.

Officials told News 2 they hope to have plans from the architects by late fall.