Future of Civic Hall Still to Be Determined

City staff will re-evaluate the next steps for Civic Hall, which was .

The recreational complex, located in , served as a site for dances, trivia nights, weddings and holiday parties in the city for more than 60 years.

The City of O’Fallon closed the complex in early November 2011, after a routine inspection found the building’s roof and support beams to be in poor shape.

At the April 12 meeting, O’Fallon City Council voted 6-3 against a resolution that would allow the city to enter an agreement with Jacobs Engineering to complete a $56,800 study of the structural and programming needs of Civic Hall.

With these two studies, the engineering firm would make a recommendation to either renovate or replace the Civic Hall building.

Bill Gardner and Rick Lucas, of Ward 1 and Michael Snowden, of Ward 5 voted in favor of the resolution.

Voting no were, Rose Mack and Jim Pepper, of Ward 2; John Haman Jr., of Ward 3; Bob Howell and Jeff Schwentker, of Ward 4 and Mike Pheney of Ward 5. Ward 3 Councilman Rick Battelle was absent.

O’Fallon Public Relations Director Tom Drabelle said now city staff will re-evaluate the recommendation to figure out the next steps.

He said even though the agreement was turned down, the city can still move forward with this process and determine what’s best for the site, whether it be a renovated Civic Hall or a new building.

For now, events and classes that would have been held at Civic Hall have been moved to other locations on the north side of O’Fallon, including the City Hall gym, Westhoff Park and a rented space in Triad Plaza, Drabelle said.