By NEAL WAGNER / City Editor

The Alabaster Board of Education will discuss possibly renting space in the second floor of the under-construction new Alabaster City Hall during a special-called March 18 work session at the Alabaster Senior Center.

The work session is scheduled to begin at the Senior Center at 5 p.m.

Crews with Blalock Construction currently are working to build the 19,835-square-foot new City Hall building next to the Senior Center on the old Siluria cotton mill site off Alabama 119. Once complete, the new building’s first floor will house Alabaster’s administrative offices, city court and other municipal departments.

The city originally was planning to use the building’s second floor to house city documents and other materials currently being held in mini-storage facilities, but Alabaster Interim School Superintendent Dr. Phillip Hammonds recently said he has been talking with city officials about possibly housing the upcoming school system’s central office in the new building.

During a March 14 City Council work session, Alabaster City Manager George Henry said the new building’s second floor will contain about 4,200 square feet of “usable space” the School Board could rent from the city. It likely will cost about $500,000 to build out the second floor to have the capability to house the school system’s central office, he said.

Hammonds said if the city and the School Board reach an agreement on renting the second floor, the two entities will discuss rent amounts at a later date.

“Our thanks to the city for even considering this as an option,” Hammonds said on March 15 shortly after he, Alabaster Chief School Financial Officer Sarita Tapscott, School Board member Adam Moseley and Henry took a tour of the under-construction new City Hall.

The city’s central school office staff members currently are housed in an office condominium at 6919 Alabama 119, which the School Board previously leased through the end of August.

The new Alabaster City Hall is scheduled to open this summer.