FILLMORE : Federal Funds for New City Hall Due Soon

With the city still a shambles from the Northridge earthquake, Fillmore officials rejoiced Thursday upon learning that a promised grant to build a new City Hall should arrive within the next 60 days.

The federal money will pay for a $1.3-million, two-story City Hall building, which will temporarily be used by more than a dozen displaced downtown merchants who have been operating out of a tent and trailers during the past 16 months.

“We are thrilled that we are getting this money,” said Mayor Linda Brewster. “It’s the beginning of a new era in Fillmore.”

City officials thought as late as Wednesday that the grant would probably be rejected because Congress continues to cut funds to the states.

Construction of the City Hall, which will be at the heart of Fillmore’s Central Park, is scheduled to start as early as August, said City Planner Anthony Perez.

When construction of the 15,000-square-foot building is complete, which is expected by year’s end, the 15 displaced merchants will move into the facility for up to a year or until they find a place to relocate their businesses that were damaged by the Jan. 17, 1994, quake, Perez said.

After the merchants are gone, the city plans to move into the facility and place all of its offices under one roof.

City officials began operating from a one-story building at Sespe Avenue in 1950. But as the city and its administration grew, its government operations sprawled to four locations throughout Fillmore.

The current City Hall houses the office of the city manager, the council chambers and the Sheriff’s Department. A trailer behind City Hall is the quarters for the parks and recreation, housing and fire departments and the office of the city’s grant coordinator.

The offices of the city engineer, city planner and public works department operate in another building across the street from City Hall, and the Building and Safety Department is placed in an office two blocks away.

“It has been inconvenient for us because city offices are sprawled all over town,” Brewster said. “We are in desperate need of a new City Hall.”

Besides serving as an interim business facility, the new building is expected to be the anchor of a new town square--a brick plaza with a cast-iron fountain and sidewalks that fan out from the fountain to the corners of the plaza.

“It’s going to add a whole new look to our downtown,” Perez said. “And it’s a project which is vital to the economy of Fillmore.”

The town square project is part of the city’s effort to improve its image, maintain its historical small-town character, and increase tourism, Perez said.