El Monte

A $200,000 contract has been approved for architectural services on a major refurbishment of El Monte City Hall. Assistant City Manager Len Therrien said the 29-year-old building and the vacant second floor of the old El Monte Courthouse next door will be remodeled to ease overcrowding and to provide room for future staff increases. The Montclair firm of Cashion, Horie, Cocke & Gonzales was awarded the architectural contract, he said. Work on the $3.6-million project is scheduled to begin next February and take about one year to complete, Therrien said. A new City Council chamber will be built and about half of the existing city offices will be moved to the old courthouse building, allowing the remaining offices to be enlarged, he said. Therrien said the city will finance the project with certificates of participation issued by a nonprofit corporation set up by the city and sold to investors through underwriters. The city will lease the new facilities from the corporation for 10 years until the debt on the certificates is repaid, he said.