New Mqt. Twp. Hall Project Shelved

Another substantial project the Marquette Township Board had been talking about a lot lately goes by the wayside.

The board voted unanimously last night to put the building project for a new township hall and community center back on the shelf for now.

It would cost $8 million.

The current township hall is fairly new compared to many in the region — it was built in 1983.

But for about 20 years, there’s been talk of replacing it by building a new one.

Township Manager Randy Girard says that’s because the hall was built to address 1983’s volume of need, with room for 5 years’ worth of growth potential built into it.

He says it doesn’t account for anything beyond that, which is why they need something new.

The idea for the project also included space for police vehicles, which, like a community center space, the current hall doesn’t have.

Even if the new hall project never happens, Girard says the current hall needs about $250,000 worth of work to keep what they already have in a usable condition.

The township board approved moving forward with the project in June.

But now they’ll be waiting to see the results of next Tuesday’s recall election before plotting the next step.