North Liberty’s new city hall gives community a place to gather

NORTH LIBERTY — North Liberty residents looking to organize a gathering or pay a utility bill have a new place to go.

The new City Hall for the Johnson County community opened in April.

The roughly 17,000-square-foot building features expanded conference rooms, an indoor community space, and a public plaza.

It houses the city’s legal, administrative, and building inspection departments, as well as human resources, community relations and information technology.

North Liberty Community Relations Director Nick Bergus emphasized the benefits of having all departments under one roof, citing improved collaboration and efficiency in city operations.

"When there were public meetings (in the previous City Hall), I would have to drive to do those since my office wasn’t in the building," Bergus said. "Now, I can just walk downstairs, and I’m there.”

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Originally projected to cost $6.9 million, the building came in just short of $10 million, with Bergus attributing the increased costs to inflation and the addition of the public plaza.

"We went through community (feedback) in 2019, and one thing that came out of that was the community's demand for additional public gathering spaces," Bergus said. "This building is open to the public, so having a place where people can gather is important to a growing community."

Bergus said North Liberty is installing a grass lawn on the plaza, which will allow for events like concerts, movie nights and food truck visits.

“We always knew we would have excess space, but we didn’t know how we would use it,” North Liberty Mayor Chris Hoffman said. The plaza, he added, “could have been boring, but we wanted to find ways for the community to utilize and enjoy it.”

Hoffman said the new facility also addresses North Liberty's growing population. The city grew from 13,274 residents in 2010 to 20,479 in 2020, with data suggesting the city could reach 40,000 people by 2050.

Bergus said the land where City Hall was built has space for additions to the building.

“We didn't build for exactly the number of staff we have now,” Bergus said. “We did it looking forward to what possibilities might be later down the road for North Liberty, so we have some additional space to grow if the time arises.”

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Long wait

The city's previous City Hall, located within an old pediatrician's office at Quail Creek Circle off Highway 965, had been in use nearly 15 years.

Hoffman, the mayor, said the new City Hall, being in a centralized location next to the police and fire departments, makes it more accessible for residents.

“Our last place wasn’t really walkable so the new location has created an efficiency for the community to be able to come to this location much easier than it has for a long time,” Hoffman said.

North Liberty officials expressed interest in another City Hall for more than a decade. In 2007, the City Council identified a dozen city buildings to work on over the next 15 years, and upgrading City Hall was a top priority.

Over time, city officials shifted their attention to other projects, such as expanding North Liberty's wastewater treatment and library.

"It took longer to make the move because we had other pressing needs," Bergus said.

With the new City Hall now operational, the final project from the 2007 plan is adding a second fire station.

Bergus said the city plans to build the station at 1565 St. Andrews Dr., across the street from Centennial Park. But renovation of Centennial Park comes first.

“We added our first full-time crews for the fire department a year ago, and we don't want to build a fire station and not be able to staff it,” Bergus said.

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