Welcome home, City Hall

Cedar Rapids City Council members took an important step forward in flood recovery - and showed appropriate fiscal responsibility - when they decided last week to return City Hall to the Veterans Memorial Building on May's Island.

Council members also were wise to signal intentions to use the former federal courthouse, which the city receives in exchange for land on which the new courthouse is being built.

That historic building, near the Veterans Memorial Building, already has benefitted from $14 million in post-flood renovation work.

Using the Veterans Memorial Building and former courthouse space accomplishes several important goals.

It brings city employees and customers back to Cedar Rapids' still-struggling downtown, takes advantage of existing resources, preserves and uses two important historic structures and ensures a quicker return to permanent city office space.

And as flood recovery continues, council members must continue to use discretion about resources at their disposal. They should make sure their choices are in keeping with the big-picture, long-term vision of Cedar Rapids future.

Mayor Ron Corbett recently said the council's top priorities should be other recovery projects - not a new City Hall. We agree. Cost estimates for a new building ran between $38 million and $50 million. That's too much to spend for an office facility given the city's many challenges, limited resources and other priorities.

Getting city staff out of their temporary offices in northeast Cedar Rapids and back downtown helps revitalize the heart of the city, too - supporting existing business and encouraging others to come back downtown.

State I-JOBS money could potentially help pay any renovation costs of the veterans building that aren't covered by the Federal Emergency Management Agency.

Members of the Veterans Memorial Commission recently told council members that by renovating and reopening the building in phases, city offices could be available to the public in as little as three months.

That would be another concrete and symbolic step toward our city's full recovery.