Two days ago, in front of city officials and community members, Bowling Green Mayor John Quinn lightly touched upon some issues that will be affecting the Bowling Green community during his State of the City address. The issues included the Wooster Street widening project and the restoration of many historical city landmarks.

One historical landmark that is receiving a lot of attention recently is City Hall, 304 N. Church St.

When it was built in 1903 for $15,000 its primary purpose was to be the local school building. According to University archives, by 1904 the building was complete and classes were in session for many years until finally a new city school needed to be built.

In 1955, the former school building was empty, so the city decided to expand the library inside the walls of the old school. Finally, a new city library was built and again the former school was empty.

Then, in 1974, the city of Bowling Green purchased the building to use it for city purposes. The building was then remodeled and new offices were created.According to Quinn, when the building was initially built it was influenced by British architecture and wasn?t necessarily the style of buildings that Bowling Green was used to.

Since 1974, there have been many new jobs created that are housed in City Hall, and since then has yet to be remodeled.

?We have a City Hall that is conservative,? Quinn said. ?The building is also in bad shape. We need a new roof and the whole building needs to be recarpeted.?Along with physical characteristics, the building is not equipped to handle the computer age. With today?s technology the building needs to be rewired. And data processing takes up even more space.During his address, Quinn made it clear that he should not be the sole leader for deciding whether or not City Hall needs to be rebuilt or renovated.According to Quinn, in the next few weeks a committee of 12-15 citizens will be formed to decide what needs to be done with the building. The only recommendation Quinn will make is that the building needs to remain located downtown?inside the heart of Bowling Green.We at The BG News applaud the Mayor?s slow and careful approach to debating the fate of the current City Hall building. We feel that the creation of a committee made up of concerned community members, is a great start to responsibly assessing the issue before bringing in the wrecking ball.