By George Slaughter
While the Katy city government continues to function following Hurricane Harvey, Katy City Hall will reopen Tuesday after sustaining considerable water damage.
The damage is on the first floor, where workers have removed several inches worth of drywall both from the lobby area and offices.
The lobby now has piles of boxes and office furniture in it. Pictures and artwork have been removed from the walls.
The elevator is out of order.
In the council chamber, also on the first floor, the carpet has been removed, and chairs have been stacked behind the council desk.
“I was very disappointed” upon seeing the damage, Mayor Chuck Brawner said Friday. “I know it can be restored. With the epic flood we’ve had, it’s hard to escape any of it. We’re just fortunate that it didn’t get higher than three or four inches.”
Brawner said the city has a contractor already working to make repairs.
The Katy City Council was scheduled to hold its regular meeting last Monday, but the decision was made to postpone the meeting three days to let the storm pass. Brawner said that the council will meet again at 6 p.m. Monday, September 11, at city hall. This meeting will put the council back on its regular meeting schedule of the second and fourth Monday evenings of the month.
The city said on its web site that utility billing customers will be not charged late fees, nor will cut-offs occur, because of the city hall closure.
The city said that its visitors center is also scheduled to reopen on Tuesday. The Municipal Courts, City Park, and Thomas Park have all reopened. The Dog Park, Woodsland Park, and VFW Park are closed until further notice.
The city hall building opened in June of last year. It is a three-story, 33,000-square foot building that cost the city approximately $7.5 million to build.
Before moving into the new city hall, the council had met in the former city hall across the street. The former city hall also housed several city department that made the move to the new city hall.
The former city hall was in the process of being demolished with the block being opened up as a public plaza, save for the city council chamber, which was to remain as a public meeting facility. A worker at the former city hall and he and his crewmates had been cleaning it up. The worker warned a visitor about the smell of mildew, which was strong.
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- The former Katy City Hall is being cleaned out after sustaining water damage from Hurricane Harvey. (George Slaughter photo)
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- The west end of the first floor lobby at Katy City Hall serves as a storage area as workers remove the drywall. (George Slaughter photo)
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- The east end of the first floor lobby at Katy Hall has stacks of boxes as workers remove drywall and begin building repairs. (George Slaughter photo)
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- The Katy City Hall city council chamber has chairs stacked behind the council desk. (George Slaughter photo)
