GALLIPOLIS — As the Gallipolis City Justice Center nears completion, the city is moving forward with plans to construct a second facility to house the municipality’s administrative offices and will hold a groundbreaking ceremony for the building on Tuesday.

The groundbreaking ceremony will be held at 6:15 p.m. on August 21 at the site of the future Gallipolis Administrative Building at 333 Third Avenue in the municipal parking area. The facility will house the city’s utility, tax, code enforcement, auditor’s and city manager’s offices.

The public is invited to attend the event that will be held prior to a special meeting of the Gallipolis City Commission. The commission meeting will begin at 7 p.m. in the Gallipolis Municipal Courtroom, 49 Olive Street, Gallipolis.

Hoon, Inc., of Athens was awarded the bid for the construction of the facility following the passage of an emergency ordinance on July 28 after they presented the lowest bid in the amount of $794, 450 — an amount $90,000 under the engineer’s estimate for the project.

Initial bids for the construction of the facility were rejected by the city commission during a regular meeting in early May, as the bids were all approximately $200,000 over the engineer’s estimate for the building.

After reassessing the layout of the facility and adjusting the plan, the city again compiled a request for bids and, subsequently, received the low bid from Hoon, Inc.

According to information presented during past Gallipolis City Commission meetings, the administrative facility will face Court Street from its position in the 300 block of Third Avenue. The back of the building will face People’s Bank.

The reasoning behind the placement of the building is to conserve the number of parking spaces in the municipal parking area; and, reportedly, approximately 100 spaces will be available in the municipal parking area post construction of the over 5,000 square-foot facility. Currently, there are 116 spaces available in that area.

The building will also feature both a drive-through window and exterior, public restrooms.

The drive-through window will be utilized by the utility office and will allow the city residents to easily make their utility payments.

The public restrooms, a feature that has long been discussed by city officials, will be a benefit to the city and will be open for the use of downtown pedestrians.

The facilities will, reportedly, not be open for the use of the public 24-hours a day. Plans are to close the facility at 9 p.m. each night and at 11 p.m. during nights when events are being held in the downtown area.

The two separate male and female restrooms will only be accessible from the outside of the building and will not allow users to gain access to the interior administrative offices.

Construction of the facility is expected to begin immediately with an expected total construction time of seven months.