Chattanooga to open all city facilities on Monday
Chattanooga’s City Hall, Development Resource Center and other city facilities will reopen to the public beginning Monday.
Mayor Andy Berke signed Executive Order 31 on Friday, reopening City Hall, the DRC and Chattanooga Public Library branches to the public. Berke told reporters Friday afternoon that all publicfacing offices of the city will be open to some extent beginning Monday after months of changes and closures due to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, but that citizens should expect some operational changes.
“Every piece is opening but not necessarily 100%,” Berke said during his news conference.
“So the biggest example of that is the library. We’re opening up pieces of the library. Of course, we continue to have curbside service, but we’ll have some computer access for people. But it is not open to the same extent that it would normally be,” he added. “But I believe everything that we have will have at least some public-facing interactions.”
While buildings are reopening to the public, the city will require those visiting to wear a mask. The city will provide masks to those in need while supplies last.
The changes come amid a downturn in cases of the virus locally.
“With our cases per 100,000 — which is how you look into other cities and it gives some of these larger measurements like the Harvard scale — we’ve seen our numbers dropping,” Berke said. “We still need to see them drop further, of course, but as we see the numbers consistently coming down, we want to open as much as we can back up to the public.”
According to a news release from the city, Youth and Family Development Centers will remain closed to the public at this time. However, five centers are operating Virtual Learning Centers for those enrolled in HCS At Home. To learn more about the program and enroll your students, visit cha.city/virtuallearning.
While the library branches will be open, it will be for limited computer use only at this time. Those wishing to check out or return books will continue to do so via curbside service. The Avondale Branch remains closed until the city reopens its Youth and Family Development Centers. For more full details about the public libraries reopening, visit chattlibrary.org or call 423-643-7700.
While buildings will reopen for public access, many city services can still be accessed online. To see these services, go to chattanooga.gov.