Morehead City Debuts New City Hall, Designed by Waller, Todd & Sadler, a Woolpert Company

MOREHEAD CITY, N.C. (Sept. 17, 2021) — A ribbon-cutting was held Tuesday to celebrate the grand opening of the historically designed City Hall building in Morehead City, N.C. The new two-story, 21,000-square-foot structure is on the 1100 block of Bridges Street and houses all governmental functions, except for the police and fire/EMS departments.

Waller, Todd & Sadler, a Woolpert Company, provided full design services and construction administration support for the $6 million project. The firm collaborated with Wylie Cooke, president of W.R. Cooke Design LLC, on initial concepts for the building. Daniels & Daniels Construction Co. was the general contractor.

Woolpert Vice President William W. Schwegler said the new City Hall was built at the site of the former Charles S. Wallace school building and was designed to emulate that historic structure, which was built in the 1920s. The new City Hall reflects the brick color, window fenestration and façade of the school, and incorporates elements salvaged from the building. These elements include precast medallions, one of which was adapted to be a clock.

“Charles Wallace was a big part of Morehead City’s history, and the school was attended by people throughout the town,” Schwegler said. “After listening to the community and learning what the school meant to them, we knew how important it was to retain the spirit of that history through our design, while still modernizing the building to support the town’s present and future governmental and structural needs.”

As part of those future needs, the new City Hall provides hurricane-preparedness enhancements. These include hurricane shutter ties on window exteriors, a pre-disaster planning and post-disaster coordination room, and a backup generator. The building also was designed to accommodate the city’s anticipated growth.

Schwegler noted that City Manager Ryan Eggleston, Mayor Jerry Jones, Public Services Director Daniel Williams and the Morehead City Town Council were engaged and supportive throughout the project, ensuring the building would reflect the community’s values and goals. Williams added that it was important to make public-facing City Hall functions easily accessible to the community—from paying a bill at the window on the first floor to streaming Town Council meetings online.

“This City Hall will serve as the town of Morehead City’s centerpiece, both in look and feel, and will provide a welcoming place to do business,” Williams said. “This design reflects our cherished past and looks forward to our promising future. We couldn’t be happier with how it all turned out.”

About Waller, Todd & Sadler, a Woolpert Company
Waller, Todd & Sadler, a Woolpert Company, offers architecture, planning, interior design and LEED services to both public and private sector clients. It is a testimony to the firm’s professional abilities and commitment to customer service that approximately 90 percent of Waller, Todd & Sadler’s work is from repeat clients. Woolpert is a premier architecture, engineering, geospatial (AEG) and strategic consulting firm that serves public, private and government clients worldwide. The ENR Top 150 Global Design Firm recently earned its sixth-straight Great Place to Work certification and actively nurtures a culture of growth, inclusion, diversity and respect. The firm has more than 1,600 employees and 57 offices on four continents. For more, visit woolpert.com.

Photos below courtesy of Howard Doughty, Immortal Images