Nitro City Hall's exterior is about to get an upgrade.
City Council members during their Tuesday meeting approved a bid from Barakem Construction Company out of Parkersburg to complete the work to the building's exterior.
"Council has felt for the last two or three years that City Hall needs to be a professional looking building, so we have been renovating the building and have just about completed the inside," Nitro Mayor Dave Casebolt said. "Now we are looking to do the outside in a cost effective manner."
The city looked at two renovation options - to repoint and stain the exterior, which turned out to be very expensive and the other was a Dryvit stucco approach, which is an exterior synthetic product.
"It is a fairly inexpensive way to make it look like it is stucco," Nitro Recorder Rita Cox said. "The old stucco would be stone or concrete but this is a synthetic and you can do it much more cheaply."
It's also a way to keep that older look, Casebolt said.
"The building was built in the 1940s and we wanted a look that would fit with our 1920s rebranding streetscape theme," Casebolt said. "We want to continue with that theme of a World War I town, so it will be some kind of historic color."
He anticipates the project will move quickly after they contact the designer, Gulf Architects, and their team meets with the contractor Barakem.
The city has been working on renovation and upgrading projects throughout City Hall as part of its 20-year plan for the last four years. Nearly $80,000 to $100,000 has been invested in project that's renovated each room, all hallways and the building's exterior. The exterior stucco work is anticipated to cost up to $30,000.
"We've received a lot of compliments on the completed upgrades," Casebolt said.
Council also approved to continue paying for rental portable toilets at its Robert C. Byrd boat launch along the Kanawha River.
"We have a lot of boaters that use that boat launch," Casebolt said. "This just makes it convenient for them."
The Nitro RCB boat launch can accommodate about 100 cars with its overflow lot and provides easy entry and exit along its ramps, Nitro Councilman Bill Javins said.
The service will, which the city has provided for six years, will cost about $200 per month. The city will keep the toilets there for six months and rents them from Johnny on the Spot out of Portsmouth, Ohio.
"It works out great for boaters and fishermen - the boat ramp has easy access and it's easy to put your boat in and out of the water," Javins said. "There's also plenty of parking."
In other news, council approved a measure to help Nitro Elementary buy a new cleaning machine at the cost of $1,950.
Council also approved the March 7 meeting minutes.