Question: The Lexington Urban County Government occupies what was once the Lafayette Hotel. When was it converted to a government building?

Answer: The city has had a myriad of problems with its leaky government center building. In April 2007, the Herald-Leader reported that Mayor Jim Newberry wants to spend $1.3 million repairing the exterior of the government building to stop the water leaks. He has also proposed spending up to $250,000 studying whether Lexington should build or buy a new City Hall. The city spends so much money on maintaining and renovating the government center that it’s time to see whether a new building is needed, Newberry said. In the past four years, the city has spent $8.5 million repairing and renovating the government center, with $7.5 million of that going to a new heating and air conditioning system.

The building hasn’t always been the seat of city government. In 1982, the city bought and renovated the former Lafayette Hotel on East Main Street for use as City Hall. The hotel was built in the 1920s.

Newberry said he isn’t convinced the government needs to move, but it’s an issue worth studying.

“My preference is to stay put,” Newberry said. “I don’t want to put a building up.”

The study would look at issues such as the government’s space needs, utility costs, money spent on maintenance and the cost of operating the other downtown buildings the city owns and leases space in, said Kimra Cole, the city’s commissioner of general services. The city bought the Phoenix Building on Vine Street for $5.9 million in 2000, and moved several departments there.

The study might show that it’s better for the government to consolidate its offices into one new building, Newberry said.

If that’s the case, the government should stay in the downtown area, and the Phoenix Building and the government center would be sold, he said.

It’s unclear when the study would begin. The council still needs to approve the study money, which is in Newberry’s proposed budget for the fiscal year that begins in July.

Most of the maintenance projects in the government center have been placed on hold pending the study, Cole said.

But the city is working on three high priority projects that need to be completed to address immediate problems, she said.

The first is the $1.3 million exterior project Newberry mentioned in his budget address. The money would be used for an exterior renovation, including resealing windows and tuck pointing the brick and terra cotta on the building.

Bids are being requested on a $240,000 project to repair the roof of the government center’s parking garage.

And, so the government center is compliant with the Americans with Disabilities Act, a $150,000 to $170,000 elevator is being installed to make it easier for disabled people to get into the building.

Linda Niemi

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