City of Newberry holds ribbon-cutting for new City Hall

BY AMBER THIBODAUX

NEWBERRY, Fla. – The City of Newberry officially welcomed the community to its new City Hall on Monday with a special ribbon-cutting ceremony held at 5:00 p.m. on January 12. Over 100 people gathered at the entrance on NW 1st Avenue, as Newberry Mayor Tim Marden spoke briefly about the logistics of the long-awaited project. The building became operational in late 2025, with initial tours during the fall festival in November; however, the ribbon-cutting ceremony was postponed to allow for final refinements to the Commission Chamber. The project originally broke ground in August 2024 and drew on extensive community input through workshops over the last several years.

“The vision of our commission was to create a space to serve our citizens and business community first, and our staff second,” Marden said. “There was a great need to finally co-locate these City services under one roof and keep the citizens from having to go to different locations to conduct business with the City. Creating a single space not only increases convenience but also reduces frustration.”

The approximately 12,000-square-foot facility, constructed adjacent to the existing municipal building at 25440 West Newberry Road, consolidates City departments previously dispersed across four different locations under one roof for improved efficiency and public service. The project was built at a total cost of nearly $9 million, with a portion of that covered by impact fees and infrastructure tax. The new building features 20 private offices, four open offices, two conference rooms, and a dedicated Commission Meeting Chamber with a 150-seat capacity. It incorporates high-efficiency design elements, including 450+ high-efficiency light fixtures, HVAC capable of handling 480,000 cubic feet of air per hour, 2,000 square feet of interior glass, and 1,500 square feet of hand-placed local field stone. The building also has a drive-through for paying bills, and an alleyway between the old and new City Halls will offer space for community events.

Marden also pointed out that the new City Hall was pre-designed and engineered for future expansion with the possibility of adding an additional floor if needed to accommodate growth. 

“What the Commission really had the foresight to do was to design this building for expansion,” Marden explained. “This building is currently more than what we need, but it’s probably not going to be in a couple of years.” 

Construction was completed by Scorpio Construction, in partnership with Monarch Design Group, and involved over 40,000 man-hours, the installation of 575+ sheets of drywall with 100+ cubic yards of concrete, and the use of 56% local vendors. The building’s design blends architectural elements from the original 1990s municipal building and the nearby First Baptist Church, which coincide with Newberry’s historic downtown character and incorporate “the old with the new,” according to Marden.

“Our new design standards require our (Newberry) businesses to have multiple elements like these in their designs, and we only thought it was proper to do the same,” Marden said. He referred to the various arches, metal, and brick incorporated in the old municipal building, which carry over into the new City Hall.

“It’s very functional, it’s very purposeful — to really stitch together where we were and where we’re going,” Marden concluded. “This (building) is a symbol incorporating our past to serve our future.”