Village Hall Committee Wants the Next Steps for Building Redesign

The Sussex committee charged with deciding the fate of redesigning said they want the next steps highlighted in their report when it’s finalized later this year.

“I think we’ve assembled a really powerful group of people who care, and I don’t want to see something we’ve done gather dust and not be done,” said village trustee and committee Chair Pat Tetzlaff. “That’s really not fair.”  

The Village Hall Facility Study Group discussed a draft report Wednesday slated to be finalized in the coming months which calls for a new building to be built on the current village hall campus.

The committee has determined a new building is the best way to proceed with village hall due to safety concerns and the ongoing costs associated with keeping up the current facility.

They also favored keeping the new building on the current campus and incorporating it with a planned expansion of the in order to create a civic center in Sussex.

The Reasoning for a Redesign

The committee went over its recommendations to let leaders and residents know why they’re recommending their plan due to the financial and emotional concerns some may have.

Committee members also recommended staff hold public tours of the current building or put a video tour on the village website because the public doesn’t come to the building often and it would allow them to see the ongoing problems with the structure.

“It’s really not feasible to keep going with the same structure,” committee member Art Rude said.

With a new building centrally located on the current campus, the committee said it will also help grow the sense of community and benefit the image of Sussex as it moves forward.

Village Administrator Jeremy Smith said it’s also important to highlight the image a village hall has for the community and the impact it can have.

“Each Plan Commission we have five to 10 new business owners coming in here and it’s all an image of what this community is,” Smith said. “When we tell them ‘we want you to improve your façade’ and then they look at our building and then they say ‘you want me to do what?’ It says something.”

The committee will hold its last official meeting Oct. 26 in order to present the plan to the Village Board by November. Village President Greg Goetz said he will work to make sure the plan gets attention from elected officials.

“This is very important for us as we move forward,” he said. “It’s not going to just lay on a shelf.”