Officials to form committee to study City Hall fix options
PAWTUCKET – City Council President Terry Mercer has announced that he’s forming a new commission to study all aspects of the necessary fixes to City Hall, including how to afford the $100-plus million renovations needed.
He’s calling it the “City Hall Building Review Ad Hoc Committee,” and it will consist of three city councilors, another three members from Mayor Don Grebien’s administration and three citizen experts in the fields of historic sites, construction, development and more.
Mercer appointed those committee members at the end of Wednesday night’s regularly-scheduled meeting, and the chair will be AtLarge Councilor Michael Araujo, the deputy chair David Moran of Ward 1 and At-Large Councilor Yesenia Rubio.
From the administration, they will be the mayor himself or a designee of his, Assistant Planning Director Camerin Bennett and a still-unknown person from the city’s Public Works Department; while the citizens will include Barbara Zdravesky, Kevin Miniatti and Kevin Barry.
“The idea is that we will look at every single aspect of what to do with this building, whether it is fixing it and bringing it up to 21st Century office building standards and seat of government, turning from Freight Street or something else,” Mercer said. “There’s a pretty hefty tag that’s been suggested for complete renovations, and my hope is that we can look for every possible way to accomplish that.
“This committee could take as long as 12 months if not longer; I’d like to assign a starting date of April 1,” he added.
The president went on to describe Zdravesky as a member of the Pawtucket Preservation Society, which he called an important voice on the project’s mission; Miniatti a lifelong city resident and second-generation builder and construction expert as well as a Zoning Board member; and Barry as the No. 2 person at the Quonset
Economic Development Corp. with expertise in development and grant funding.
“The charge is to go in with an open mind, see what reasonably can be done with this building and to take as long as you need,” he said. “There is no rush. We know we’re going to have to move over Freight Street for a while, so there will be quite a bit of time for you to do whatever you have to do.
“Don’t rush it, but I ask you be thorough.”
Araujo thanked Mercer for choosing him to lead what he called a very important committee.
“It’s an honor to serve, and I want to thank Councilor Moran and Councilor Rubio for their interest and dedication,” he said. “I know that, yes, this is an open-ended committee. We don’t know what’s going to be done with this building; that’s the reason for this ad hoc committee.
“We have to figure out what is the best use for this building and if there is a use for us.”