Starting next week, Demorest City Hall will be operating from a new location.
Interim city manager Mark Musselwhite tells Now Habersham that, barring any unforeseen circumstances, the new City Hall will open in the old Demorest Elementary School on Alabama Street on Monday, March 13.
City officials had hoped to move into the historic school building last month, but encountered a few hiccups and a challenge or two during renovations.
Musslewhite says one challenge that had to be overcome involved issues with the fire sprinkler system. That has since been addressed.
Barring any new challenges, the current Demorest City Hall will close this Thursday, March 9, at 3 p.m. so staff can start packing up the remaining items that need to be moved. IT personnel will begin taking down the computer network as well. Staff will begin moving Friday morning to the new facility, with IT personnel arriving later that day to set up the computer network.
Demorest City Hall will reopen Monday at 8 a.m. ready for business at the Alabama Street location.
While the new facility does not have a drive-thru window where residents can pay water bills and conduct other business, Musselwhite says there will be a drop box where they can leave payments.
Musselwhite, now entering his third month as interim Demorest City Manager, expressed his gratitude for all of the hard work that staff, vendors, and the city council have done over the last 90 days to make the move a reality.
Still, there’s more work to be done.
He says the staff has already begun measuring and pricing out renovations to the historic school’s auditorium to become the new city council meeting room in the near future.
