Cedar Rapids City Council is returning to the downtown

The City Council is coming back downtown - almost three years after the 2008 flood drove city government away, forcing it into temporary quarters.

The council's return is to a new home in what had been the federal courthouse at 101 First St. SE. The former courthouse is now city-owned and just down the street from the Veterans Memorial Building on May's Island, which had been home to city government until the flood.

The old federal courthouse will carry a name the Veterans Memorial Building never did - City Hall.

“Certainly, there is a practical aspect of being in the downtown, but there's also the symbolic nature of being back in the downtown of our community,” Mayor Ron Corbett said Monday. “It's just another sign of progress.”

For now, only the council chambers in what had been the old courthouse's large, third-floor courtroom is ready for use. The renovation of the rest of the building won't be complete until June 2012.

The city is holding an open house at the new City Hall from 12:30 p.m. to 4:30 p.m. today, with Mayor Corbett cutting the ribbon on the new council chambers at 4 p.m. The council's twice-a-month Tuesday evening meeting will follow at 5:30 p.m.

The building tour today will feature a recently uncovered and restored Depression Era mural on one wall of the council chambers. The tour also will show the public where other city offices will go in the former courthouse.

The U.S. General Services Administration brought the building back to its former condition after the 2008 flood with new mechanical systems. The city has secured state funds and hopes to secure historic tax credits to pay the $7.8 million cost to turn the building into a City Hall.

City officials also intend to use parts of the Veterans Memorial Building for city government. They are especially interested in using the former council chambers in the Vets building for meetings of city boards and commissions. The city's Veterans Memorial Commission has plans for added museum space in the building.

Corbett on Monday wanted the public to remember that the current City Council elected to return city government to two historic buildings in the downtown and in so doing turned its back on an idea to build a $30-million-plus city hall.

“People say we should be using taxpayer money wisely,” the mayor said. “This is an example of us using taxpayer money extremely wisely.”

The city continues to run much of city government from a northeast Cedar Rapids office park. For the last year, the council has been using Hiawatha City Hall for its regular meetings.