New Year, new village hall for Utica

Utica’s new village complex is 90% complete and move-in day will, Mayor David Stewart said, take place before New Year’s Eve.

Stewart led a private tour Tuesday of the near-finished complex, which is housed in the former Waltham South School — the old Utica Grade School before that — to show off the new flooring, doorways and rooms expanded by removing classroom walls.

“I’d say we’re in the final stages,” he said. “We still have to get our internet services and our server hooked up, but I feel we’re well on track to be in here by January.”

The repurposed school is beginning to look the part of a village complex. Contractors have largely finished the council chambers — the raised seats for the Village Board will simply be moved from the old hall to the new — and there are offices just about ready for the village clerk, engineer and maintenance supervisor.

“The improvements are remarkable,” said Trustee Jim Schrader. “The project has been spearheaded by {village treasurer) Jamie Turczyn and the results speak for themselves once you’ve toured the building.

“The progress has been swift and it truly will be the best facility for our collective village purposes moving forward.”

Stewart said he’s pleased not only with the pace of construction but also with how quickly two rooms set aside for business incubators were snatched up. The Heritage Corridor Convention and Visitors Bureau took one room for office space and the other for storage.

“I do think that having the Village Hall together with the visitors center makes sense,” Stewart said. “They’ll be able to extend their hours and we’re going to have rack cards out in the hallways so that when they’re closed and our officers are open, visitors can still come in and shop those racks.”

As previously reported, the village purchased the vacant school from the Waltham Elementary School Districts (price: $135,000), made possible after Waltham vacated its two aged schools and constructed a centrally-located facility on Route 178.

Stewart surprised a few villagers with the acquisition, which he’d in fact been quietly negotiating with the school district, but quickly won over most skeptics.

The school provided a three-fold increase in available space, some of which will be available to the public. There is a community room with a refrigerator and portable chairs and tables for conferences and parties. The school gymnasium now serves as a village recreation center that’s already drawn bookings.

None of which to say there wasn’t some work involved. The building was constructed in 1961 and was in good shape, but contractors have spent recent months turning classrooms into offices and conference centers — so far within budget — and making the restrooms fully handicapped-accessible.

The most eye-catching components are the new flooring and the space allotted for Village Board meetings. The new council chambers is on the building’s west side and was achieved by removing some classroom walls to provide room for public seating.

The village clerk’s office and Stewart’s office are located across the hall, adjoined by a separate room with conference table for closed-session meetings.

Once the village offices are moved, Utica police will have the old village hall all to themselves. Utica Police Chief Rod Damron said previously he and his officers will use the new space for records storage, an interview room plus a conference area for training.

“What a transformation it’s become,” Stewart said. “Everyone seems to be very pleased with the building.”