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Paul “Andy” Stewart
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Ledger, The (Lakeland, FL)
November 28, 2011
Dundee Officials Praise New Town Center
Author: DONNA KELLY
DUNDEE Town officials in Dundee hope the new Town Center can be a catalyst for revitalizing
downtown. Councilman Rick Johnson said downtown is already looking more vibrant just
weeks after the town moved its operations across the street to new offices at 202 E. Main St.
"I think between the library and the new Town Center, it is sort of setting the tone for an overall
improved look downtown while still maintaining a small-town, ‘Main Street' atmosphere,"
Johnson said.
The 3,800-square-foot building was completed in October and staff moved in Nov. 4. The Town
Council held its first meeting in its new chambers on Nov. 8. Connected to the east side of the
Public Library by a breezeway, the Town Center features 11 offices, a conference room, kitchen,
council chambers, and a handicapped-accessible lobby with customer service windows for the
Building and Finance departments. There's also more parking than before.
"It's a more functional building designed to be used as a government building," said Town
Manager Andy Stewart. The entire complex cost $1.3 million to build, bringing the total cost,
including buying the property, to $2.7 million. The city purchased the former funeral home
property in December 2007 for $1.4 million with the intention of renovating the existing
building's two-story section into the Town Center and the single-story wing into the library.
But after contractors Everett Whitehead and Sons had gutted the single-story section in 2009,
architect John Wallis and structural engineer Matthew R. Craig told the town it would cost more
to renovate the building than to build a new one.
The result, Stewart said, is a building layout that improves staff communication and efficiency.
For those doing business with the town, it allows a person to visit several departments in one
stop. "Residents say it was long overdue," said Patricia Black, an accounts payable clerk.
"Everyone is under one roof and we don't have to send customers across town."
Residents and business owners can pay their water bills and submit building plans in the same
location.
Bobbie Tucker, a utility billing clerk, appreciates the security of the customer service windows,
which feature shutters to roll down during non-business hours. She also likes the building's
energy efficiency qualities, including sensors that turn on lights when one walks in the room and
turns them off when it's empty.
"People say we are ‘moving uptown' now," Tucker said.
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