North Liberty City Hall has settled into its new forever home, located in the “hub” of the Johnson County community.

In recent memory, the city of North Liberty has had four city halls, North Liberty Community Relations Director Nick Bergus said. Since the ribbon-cutting ceremony in May, Bergus has noticed city staff and community members appreciate what the new building has to offer.

“This is really the first time we’ve had a purpose-built space in recent memory,” Bergus said.

The old city hall was in use for over a decade, Bergus said, and the city had outgrown it, with several city services being offered in different locations around town.

When the city moved into the old location at 3 Quail Creek Circle, they had only intended to be there for two or three years. As the city focused its attention on other, more pressing projects, the new city hall continued to be pushed off for nearly 15 years.

Despite being city staff, Bergus and his team had been located in an old aerobics room at the North Liberty Community Center, separate from many other city services.

“Now I can walk across the hall to talk with our city attorney as opposed to a call or driving across town,” he said. “We’re right here at the nexus. Right down the street is our community center. Just down Front Street is our public works campus, so we’re really sort of efficiently placed right here for those purposes.”

Richard Grugin, chairperson for the North Liberty Parks and Recreation committee, said he has noticed city hall fitting well into the “hub” of downtown North Liberty.

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“It’s built very, very modern and with the past, present and future in mind and to become a hub of what they call ‘Old Town North Liberty,’” Grugin said.

Also located near the new city hall are the police station and the fire department.

On top of being home to city clerks, administration and planning, building inspection, legal, council members, and the communications office, the $10 million facility was built with the community in mind by adding a public plaza, Bergus said.

“This is the public’s building, right? And so we’re really making sure that it’s welcoming,” Bergus said. “We want it to be an active space. That’s one of the reasons that the plaza exists. Folks should be able to come here, not just to pay a water bill. It’s part of their community.”

Bergus also shared that the building was constructed with the future in mind, accounting for population growth and allowing for ample space for city staff to grow in coming years.

The city hosted its first event on the plaza on Sept. 13, where nearly 500 people showed up to watch a free screening of “Inside Out 2,” Assistant Director of Community Relations Jillian Miller wrote in an email to The Daily Iowan.

Mayor Chris Hoffman said that the new building has helped improve relationships and efficiencies among staff.

“The group of folks that were in separate buildings are now just kind of sitting next to each other, and their roles in serving the community somewhat overlap, but just having them together to be able to share ideas and be physically near each other helps to build relationships and more strengthening with our city staff,” Hoffman said.

Hoffman also shared how the community has enjoyed having a more centralized, accessible building available to them for their needs.

“What folks will recognize for a while is that this is just a really unique space, different, better location, more accessible and a little bit more welcoming,” he said.