Raleigh City Council approves $6.3M for City Hall project, including $1M for public art
The $206 million City Hall project that will transform the Raleigh skyline was given a boost on Tuesday after city leaders approved additional funds for construction and public art.
Raleigh City Council members approved a total of $6.3 million to cover the costs of the build-out for another floor of the new building, East Civic Tower, which is slated to be 17 stories tall.
The funds also include a $1,010,000 contract with public visual artist Susan Narduli, based in Los Angeles, to complete an LED light installation that will hang from the lobby and intertwine a Willow Oak tree in the tower.
Construction began this summer on the building that will live on the corner of West Hargett and South McDowell streets and will house the City Council chambers, all of Raleigh’s government offices and its 4,000 full-time employees.
The site is where the former Raleigh Police Department was housed before it was demolished earlier this year.
“We designed the building, we shrunk the building, now we’re able to do some additional work with the building because we need all staff in one place,” said Councilman Corey Branch. “That’s true customer service and that’s the true will of the people.”
The Willow Tree: A $1M public art project
The public art contract was approved for the project following the city’s Public Art Policy, the Percent for Art ordinance, established 15 years ago. The policy allows for capital projects to use 1% of the construction budget for public art. The ordinance percentage is calculated from “hard” construction project budgets, according to the city.
The city’s Public Art and Design Board reviews all projects and determines how much will be granted toward public art. Public Art Director Kelly McChesney said Tuesday that the City Hall project was granted the full amount of funds because “of all the different plans that call for bold, iconic artwork.”
“Public art or custom design build projects, they’re kind of expensive,” McChesney said. “Like all construction projects, costs have also increased with the pandemic. Projects that are highly integrated (into) building require a lot of infrastructure costs as well.”
She used examples of other public art projects like “The Bean” in Chicago, which cost the city $23 million in 2004, and in Greensboro, Janet Eckelman’s “Where We Met” project, which cost $1 million in 2016.
Joey Stansbury, a community advocate, disagreed with the city’s approval of the art contract, saying it “needs to be eliminated or drastically revised.”
“This $1 million art program is a glaring example of the inherent flaws with that program,” he said. “I would kindly suggest that the Raleigh City Council look at the recent tax increases, and recognize that unnecessary expenditures like this have a real impact on the tax rate for average citizens.”
In early 2020, the city made a public call for artists to submit original artwork to be considered for the City Hall project.
Narduli was one of the 153 applicants to respond. Twelve were from North Carolina and only two were from Raleigh.
Narduli was selected instead of a local artist because the local artists’ artwork “were not competitive with those with this kind of large-scale, professional integrated artwork,” McChesney said.
The $1 million contract includes the “fabrication and installation work, and a contingency for the structural, electrical, and permitting work required,” the city said.
When completed, the LED installation will be interactive and connect to a stream of Open Data Portals, “illuminating the ongoing activity of the city,” according to the website.
Councilwoman Jane Harrison praised the inclusion of the Willow Oak tree, a symbol of Raleigh, as the artwork’s centerpiece.
Funds allocated for the 13th floor of the tower
Of the approved $6.3 million, $4 million is from the city’s capital reserves.
City staff asked Raleigh leaders to consider the funds to construct floor 13 of the tower.
Last October, Raleigh City Council initiated a bidding strategy to save money on the project. Initially, the tower was slated for 20 floors after a conceptual plan was approved in 2020. Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the project was delayed and the costs to build the building rose, bringing it up to about 8.4% over the original budget of $190 million.
The project funding last fall only allowed for the full build-out of floors four to 12, while some would be unfinished.
In addition to the $4 million, the city council also approved an account transfer of $1,336,554 left over from the purchase of equipment for the project, which was added to that amount bringing it to a total of $5,336,544.
The funds were added to the contract with Raleigh-based construction company, Brasfield & Gorrie LLC, one of the contractors working on the City Hall project.
This story was originally published December 5, 2024 at 10:53 AM.