LACKAWANNA, N.Y. (WKBW) — The City of Lackawanna held a groundbreaking ceremony for its $18.5 million, multi-phased City Hall project on South Park Avenue on Wednesday.

This is a three-phase project:

• Construction of the new town hall
• Demolition of the town hall extension
• Restoration of the facade/entrance of the original Town Hall

Below are more details provided by the city:

• Construction – New City Hall – at 2838 South Park Avenue, site of a former Knights of Columbus hall purchased by Lackawanna in 2018. The old hall will be adaptively integrated into the construction of a new 20,000 foot facility squares that will house the municipal administration, staff and functions of the city clerk and the municipal council.
• Demolition – City Hall Expansion – at 714 Ridge Road. The functionally obsolete and deteriorating addition, built in front of Lackawanna’s original City Hall in the late 1960s, is often referred to as the “orange box on stilts” because of its pillar-like design and its color palette.
• Façade/Entrance Restoration – Original Town Hall – this building, which opened in 1909 when the Town of Lackawanna was incorporated by action of the New York State Legislature, will continue to being a municipal building housing the Lackawanna Police Department and municipal court.

Construction of the new city hall is expected to take 18 months and the demolition and restoration phases of the project will be scheduled once staff have moved to the new building.