Dearborn City Council OKs Buying New City Hall

DEARBORN (WWJ/AP) - The Dearborn City Council has voted to spend $3.2 million to buy a building for use as a new city hall.

The council voted 5-2 on Tuesday to buy the former ADP Detroit building, which is on Michigan Avenue near the city's main library and police department.

Officials say Dearborn plans to sell its current city hall to Artspace Projects Inc., a Minnesota-based nonprofit agency that plans to convert the Georgian Revival-style building into a work space for artists.

Mayor Jack O'Reilly said the change will preserve the historic building and will also give Dearborn "a new, fully functioning city hall," The Detroit News reported. He said the move likely won't happen for at least a year.

Dearborn officials say they expect to reach terms soon with Artspace.

City Council President Tom Tafelski and Councilman Brian O'Donnell opposed the move.

"I don't think it's the right time for the City of Dearborn to do this,"  Tafelski told The Detroit News. "Basically what we've done here is we've purchased another property without closing on  the current city hall."

O'Reilly said the decision to move city hall came after learning the current building, operating since the 1920s,  would need about $5.7 million in capital investment over the next three years.

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