Village Hall
SOUTH ORANGE — Eric Holtermann of HMR Architects provided an update to the South Orange Board of Trustees at its Nov. 10 meeting regarding the Village Hall renovation. Later that night, the board passed a resolution on the consent agenda approving additional services by HMR for the design, plan preparation, contract administration and inspection of the Village Hall renovation project.
“In the end, (we) arranged the program so that spaces are arranged for future flexibility, but also respecting the historic nature of the building and some of the really important public spaces that you have,” Holtermann said at the beginning of his presentation. Illustrating HMR’s stated dedication to maintaining the building’s history, Holtermann began his presentation by showing old photos of Village Hall, the earliest dating back to 1895.
Although the village currently has a Request for Proposals out for Village Hall, HMR described its plans for the building should it remain the seat of the village’s government. The RFP currently has a submission deadline of Dec. 3. Village officials have made it clear that the RFP does not cement any intent to sell the building, but is merely a way to keep their options open should they decide to choose that route.
Among HMR’s many plans for the historic building, a notable change would be to effectively have two main entrances to the building, recognizing that the side entrance is the “de facto main entrance to the building,” according to Holtermann. Residents who drive to Village Hall tend to use the side door as it is close to the parking lot receives a lot of foot traffic. Nevertheless, HMR does plan to restore the main entrance and hopes that more people will use the main entrance after the renovation. Additionally, they will move the basement staircase, relocating it under the second-floor staircase, opening up the lobby.
As the second-floor staircase is historic, HMR promises to maintain it, as well as the historic Meeting Room on the second floor.
“Where there is significant historic fabric, we are restoring it,” Holtermann said.
He added, however, that, although HMR had been planning to maintain the wood in the Meeting Room, this is no longer possible as the asbestos-abatement process forced most of that wood to be removed. Holtermann assured that the original wooden railing would be maintained.
Also, in order for the building to be consistent with fire safety codes, HMR will be creating a new vestibule in the rear of the Meeting Room to allow for a swing-out door and an area separating the meeting room from the staircase. Similarly, the small spiral staircase in the meeting room will no longer be considered a fire exit, but will remain open for employees to use.
Additionally, the Trustees Room, currently located somewhat behind the dais in the Meeting Room, will no longer officially serve that purpose and will become an egress area. Trustees at the meeting questioned the wisdom of this change, as, with all the current changes, Village Hall would only maintain two conference rooms, when the town actually is in need of three. Holtermann assured the trustees that chairs can be placed in the egress room — it will simply no longer be called a “conference room.”
Trustees also asked if the basement can be used for storage, but Holtermann advised against it. Not only will the new geothermal HVAC system take up a considerable amount of basement space, but he said the basement is often too damp for storage — one reason that it had not been used for storage in the past. Holtermann advised maintaining the basement to house the HVAC system, for infrastructure needs, etc.
Resolution No. 2014-303 was passed unanimously, expanding the listed services by HMR Architects for the Village Hall renovation.
According to the resolution, these changes were deemed necessary following the asbestos abatement and additional design elements being added to the plan.