Hastings City Officials asking for input for new City Hall Design

HASTINGS, Neb. – If you want a say in what the design of the new Hastings City Building will look like, Hastings City Officials are giving you the opportunity to do just that. 

On Monday night, Hastings held an open house for residents to come and vote for their favorite of eight new city building designs. 

People were given the options to pick a combination of two different exterior designs, two different colors of wood finish, and two different colors of the backdrop in the main room. 

The public can still vote for their favorite design online until Tuesday at 1 p.m.

The top design combo will be on the agenda of the Hastings City Council, who will have the ultimate say of the design next Monday.

Director of Engineering Lee Vrooman says they gave residents this option, because it's all about having their voice heard in their community. 

"I think it's about transparency, and as a city we've been trying to be more transparent," said Vrooman. "I know the City Council suggested we do a public open house to give the public some input on this design."

The City Building downtown is undergoing a complete makeover, as it was forced to close last year due to high levels of asbestos in the building. 

Vrooman also said efforts to remove the asbestos from the building is 98% complete, and the interior renovation will begin next.

Architects will finalize design plans after the vote of the city council, and the cost of the total remodel is still up in the air, as a contractor has not been assigned to the job yet.