Montrose opens their new city hall

GRAND JUNCTION, Colo. (KKCO) - For nearly 100 years the city of Montrose used the same building located at 433 S First street.

“We’d occupied that city hall building for a long time, and the building was in need of a lot of repairs.” Said Deputy city manager Ann Morgenthaler.

The repairs exceed the costs of finding a new location

Morgenthaler says the city would need to repair the HVAC system, an expensive fix for a building with other costs racking up.

The city council struck gold when another well-known building with an extensive history came on the market.

“When this building, the former Wells Fargo came up for sale, we jumped on it, our city council recognized that the space in this building would be excellent for our administrative operations,” said Morgenthaler.

The former Wells Fargo building, located on East Main Street is just under a block away from the previous city hall.

It was constructed in 1889 and was used for various endeavors.

Originally a bank, it charmed the town with its copula dome.

In previous years a dry goods store stood to the east.

The upper level supplied apartments.

Morgenthaler says the location makes it easier for business operations and it’s more accessible.

“The building offers efficiency for our staff, which of course benefits the public as well beyond just a nice location. We also have some excellent meeting spaces that the public can use”

In 2019 Montrose created the historic designation program to save and preserve historic buildings in the city.

The original city hall was the first structure added to that register.

Others like the Montrose Elks Lodge was added to the program as well.

On March 6th contractors began the move to the new location.

Morgenthaler said they have decided to keep the Wells Fargo ATM that stands just outside of their lobby.